We’re playing Chelsea on Wednesday night. It’s a big one.
Here we go again. After last week’s fiasco we’ve got a chance to put it right and get back on track courtesy of playing at home to the team who this season look like being our biggest competitors. The fact we’re saying that about Chelsea shows how far we’ve come but it’s no good making progress if you don’t keep making it.
And on that philosophical note we welcome those lovely folk from west London. Where once there was a load of violent hooligans their supporters are now typical of the new breed of entitlement. Where once there were vicious hooligans on the pitch are now a load of expensive individuals trying to fit into a team.
The man with the unenviable job of trying to do just that is their eighteenth in nineteen years. It’s bad enough when you see a player and you can remember his old man playing. When you can say the same about a manager it’s time to realise that perhaps you’re getting on a bit. They’ve got approximately 350 players on their books and most are out on loan, including Axel Disasi and Omar Kellyman, who cost them £19 million we were very grateful for. They lost £355 million last year but they can still buy players. And if that’s not funny enough, John Terry is president of their women’s team.
Our squad will be much the same as it has been ever since we starting culling the midfield. Who will be starting is another question entirely. Surely Ollie Watkins has run out of chances and Leon Bailey will be getting the night off. That is, of course, provided nobody gets injured, wounded, falls ill or are otherwise indisposed between now and then. We haven’t had anyone go down with cholera for a few years so that’s always possible.
And now for the serious bit. We can’t lose this one. Winning and we can look towards having a bit of breathing space again. A draw is a long way from the end of the world. Losing is not an option.
