Could Chelsea’s “bad omen” of 1972 be making a comeback?

Jose Mourinho, Chelsea immediate manager together with West Londoners' owner Roman Abramovich and the club Chief Executive Peter Kenyon. Mourinho is said to have made the dramatic exit from the club after he fell out with both Abramovich and skipper John Terry


FOR those in the know, it is the Chelsea team of 1970 that won the club’s first ever European trophy as well as the FA Cup as the England’s then glamour boys hit their stride.

At the time, Chelsea popularly known as “the Blues,” possessed some of the most talented footballers in the top flight, including the wonderful Peter Osgood and England goalkeeper Peter Bonetti.

The Stamford Bridge showmen were also runners-up to Stoke City in the 1972 League Cup as the flamboyant football flowed nearly as much as the champagne for the Euro Cup Winners Cup when they defeated the “mighty” Spain’s Real Madrid 2-1.

Under the leadership of Dave Sexton, Chelsea made history in the FA Cup after fighting their way through to the 1970 final against Leeds United, by then a feared soccer powerhouse in England.

But the glory days were so short-lived that soon after, the West London outfit started to experience players’ exodus. In set the infamous “grief” years of Chelsea, marking the end of an era as top players migrated to rival clubs.

Sensational Osgood fell out with manager Sexton and moved to Southampton in 1974, with Webb soon departing to Queens Park Rangers (QPR) and the dependable Alan Hudson going to Stoke City. Irish right-back Paddy Mulligan had on the previous year moved while long-serving central defender Eddie McCreadie stopped playing in 1973.

In 1975 Chelsea was relegated in what could be likened to a fall from “glory to grass” after a dull season in which the club won just nine league games. Two years later, the West Londoners were back to the top flight.

Come 1979 and Chelsea was again relegated after finishing the season with only 20 points adding more woes to a club that was during the time seen as among the top best.

Almost three decades later and Chelsea is faced with one of its worst crisis ever after just three years of unprecedented success in its footballing history. During the period, they won the Premiership twice and finished runners-up in the next, won Carling Cup twice and FA cup once. They also reached the semi-final of EUFA Champions League thrice in four years.

September 24, 2007 and the club is lying 6th and has not won any match since securing a 2-1 scrappy win against Fratton Park outfit, Portsmouth a month ago

The “special one”, Jose Mourinho has left. Dressing room morale is down with rumors of player exodus come January transfer window. Mourinho’s closest player, Frank Lampard arguably one of Europe’s best midfielder has refused to sign a new contract. Premiership’s top scorer last season Didier Drogba wants to follow the “special one” and so is Ricardo Calvalho, Paulo Ferreira and newly-arrived Florent Malouda.

So does this sound like the “end of an era” and the setting in of the second episode of the “grief” years for Chelsea? Or will Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s unending cash kitty return the Stamford Bridge boys back to the top of English Premier League? Could Chelsea be headed for a decade of turmoil as happened after the 1970/4 glory years?
Only time will tell.

Ends…

How Mourinho spent Abramovich’s endless cash kitty

Total spending £225.76m
Breakdown

2007 season
Aug Juliano Belletti               Barcelona               £3.7m
July Florent Malouda           Lyon                       £13.5m
June Tal Ben Haim               Bolton                      Free
June Claudio Pizarro            Bayern Munich      Free
June Steve Sidwell                Reading                  Free

2006 season
Aug Ashley Cole                    Arsenal                  £5m
Aug Boulahrouz                     Hamburg               £7m
June John Mikel Obi            Lyn                         £16m
May Ben Sahar                     Tev Aviv                £320,000
May Shevchenko                  AC Milan                £30.8m
May Salomon Kalou             Feyenoord              £8m
May Michael Ballack            Bayern Munich      Free

2005 season
Aug Michael Essien              Lyon                        £24.4m
July Wright-Phillips             Man City                £21m
July Lassana Diarra             Le Havre                £1m
July Scott Sinclair                 Bristol Rovers       £160,000
June Asier Del Horno           Athletic Bilbao       £8m
Jan Jiri Jarosik                      CSKA Moscow      £4.83m
July Ricardo Carvalho          Porto                      £19.85m
July Didier Drogba                Marseille               £24m
July Tiago                               Benfica                   £8m
July Mateja Kezman             PSV Eindhoven     £5m
July Paulo Ferreira               Porto                      £13.2m
July Arjen Robben                PSV Eindhoven     £12m

Jose Mourinho, the "Special One"

 Jose Mourinho is thumbs-up during
his glory days as Chelsea manager. 

Following the surprise exit of Jose Mourinho as Chelsea manager, i take this chance to look at some of the quotes made by a man I still believe is currently the top football manager in Europe, and perhaps in the world and who was forced out of his job by a group of Stamford Bridge's oligarch led by Russian owner Roman Abramovich.

Mourinho’s most memorable quotes

"Please don't call me arrogant, but I'm European champion and I think I'm a special one" 
Mourinho introduces himself to the English press after arriving from Porto in summer 2004.

"For me, pressure is bird flu. I'm feeling a lot of pressure with the problem in Scotland. It's not fun and I'm more scared of it than football." Insisting his side wouldn't catch a cold as Man Utd breathed down their necks.

"Look at my haircut. I am ready for the war." Unveiling his new Action Man haircut

"In the second half it was whistle and whistle, fault and fault, cheat and cheat. The referee controlled the game in one way during the first half but in the second they had dozens of free-kicks. I know the referee did not walk to the dressing rooms alone at half-time"
Mourinho claims Sir Alex Ferguson had unduly influenced referee Neale Barry at half-time during a Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester United in Jan 2005. He was fined £5,000 by the Football Association for improper conduct.

"I don't regret it. The only thing I have to understand is I'm in England, so maybe even when I think I am not wrong, I have to adapt to your country and I have to respect that. I have a lot of respect for Liverpool fans and what I did, the sign of silence - 'shut your mouth' - was not for them, it was for the English press" Mourinho defends putting a finger to his lips during the 2005 Carling Cup final against Liverpool, an action which resulted in him being sent to the stands.

"When I saw Rijkaard entering the referee's dressing room I couldn't believe it. When Drogba was sent off I didn't get surprised. There is something that tells me that in London the referee will be Collina, the best in the world. A perfect referee with personality and quality"
Mourinho claims in Portuguese newspaper Dez Record that Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard visited referee Anders Frisk's dressing room at half-time in the first leg of the teams' Champions League last-16 clash in Feb 2005. Mourinho was banned from the dug-out for two matches and fined £9,000 by Uefa for bringing the game into disrepute over his claims.

"If you ask me if I jump with happiness when I know Mr Poll is our referee? No." Not a fan of Graham Poll.

I felt the power of Anfield, it was magnificent. I felt it didn't interfere with my players but maybe it interfered with other people and maybe it interfered with the result. You should ask the linesman why he gave a goal. Because, to give a goal, the ball must be 100% in and he must be 100% sure that the ball is in" Mourinho questions the validity of Liverpool forward Luis Garcia' s goal which puts Chelsea out of the Champions League semi-finals on May 3, 2004.

"It is not a red card, of course not, and for the second time we have to play 55, 60 minutes without a man and the game is completely different. I shouldn't speak about the game, because the game is not a game" Mourinho blames a first-leg defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League last 16 in Feb 2006 on the sending-off of Asier del Horno.

"My wife is in Portugal with the dog. The dog is with my wife so the city of London is safe, the big threat is away." Reassuring the population that his runaway Yorkshire Terrier had left the country with his wife.

"Wenger has a real problem with us and I think he is what you call in England a voyeur. He is someone who likes to watch other people. There are some guys who, when they are at home, have this big telescope to look into the homes of other people and see what is happening. Wenger must be one of them - and it is a sickness." Astonishing attack on Arsene Wenger.

"We have played against them four matches in two seasons. (When it was) 11 against 11 they never beat us. That is the reality" After 1-1 draw at the Nou Camp in 2006 which sent Barca through to the quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate.

"Sometimes you see beautiful people with no brains. Sometimes you have ugly people who are intelligent, like scientists. Our pitch is a bit like that. From the top it's a disgrace but the ball rolls at normal speed." Describing Chelsea's sandpit of a pitch.

"We all want to play great music all the time, but if that is not possible, you have to hit as many right notes as you can." Admitting the Blues weren't completely on song last season.

"The goalkeeper has the ball in his hands, slides and the number 10 cannot get the ball. He goes with the knee into his face" - Mourinho accuses Reading midfielder Stephen Hunt of deliberately injuring Petr Cech after the pair collide in the first minute of last October's match at the Madejski Stadium.

"During the afternoon it rained only in this stadium - our kitman saw it - they tried everything. There must be a microclimate here." Bemoaning Blackburn's pitch-watering tactics after the Blues' hard-fought win at Ewood Park.

"It is not possible (for) penalties (to be awarded) against Manchester United, and it is not possible (to get) penalties in favour of Chelsea. If somebody punishes me because I tell the truth, it is the end of democracy, we go back to the old times" The Chelsea manager fumed last weekend after seeing his side's penalty appeals against Newcastle turned down, a day after United were given the benefit of the doubt over a strong injury-time penalty claim by Middlesbrough in their match at Old Trafford.

"A player who wants to be the best one of the world, and he already may be, should have the uprightness and the sufficient maturity to verify that against facts there are not arguments. If he says that it is a lie that Manchester United have conceded some penalties this season which have not been awarded against them, he is lying. And if he lies he will never reach the level that he wants to reach" Mourinho hit back at Ronaldo after the United winger claimed his penalty rant proved his countryman "doesn't know how to admit his own failures".

"It is omelettes and eggs. No eggs - no omelettes! It depends on the quality of the eggs. In the supermarket you have class one, two or class three eggs and some are more expensive than others and some give you better omelettes. So when the class one eggs are in Waitrose and you cannot go there, you have a problem" Shorn of the likes of injury victims Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Ricardo Carvalho and Didier Drogba, Mourinho cooked up a surreal analogy ahead of Tuesday's fateful draw with Rosenborg.

• CPA for Sudan – Why it may never work

It was January 9, 2005, and the Sudan conflict, Africa’s longest-running war came to an end. The guns went silence and the rebels left their hide-outs deep in the bush to take up Government positions as hundreds of thousands others started packing for a return from Diaspora.
The atmosphere was evident at the Nairobi’s Nyayo National Stadium, the venue of the signing ceremony. Ululations of peace, love and unity was all that characterized this historic day for Africa. Tears flowed freely on the faces of jubilant Sudanese both from the South and the North.
They hugged, kissed, sang and danced together waiting for the eventful hour when the two top “Generals” in the conflict – President Omar el-Bashir and Southern Sudan leader John Garang de Mabior would put pen on paper to signify the end of an era (of hatred, conflict, poverty and illiteracy).
Momentous was the day that saw America send its then most powerful personality after President George W. Bush, Secretary of State, Colin Powel himself a retired military General. Not less than 20 Heads of State and Governments attended the occasion not forgetting dozens of diplomats from around the world.

President Omar el Bashir of Sudan. He has been accused of showing laxity in implementing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) for Sudan that ended a 21 years civil war with the South. Likewise, his Government is on the spot over the continuing conflict in Darfur region where it has been sponsoring an armed militia of Arabic origin, the Janjaweed, against the black population.



However, signs of serious differences started to show right at the stadium while cheering as Bashir and Garang sat down to sign the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) documents. The Southerners, predominantly Christian chanted Halleluiah while the Northerners shouted Allah Al-kubar, a clear indication of the sharp differences of the two regions due to their religious orientation.
Two years on and the CPA could be headed for a total collapse.
Just as then, questions abound on whether Khartoum is committed to the implementation of the pact. Bashir’s administration is wary of the future consequences of the agreement because of the clause that allows the Christian South to hold a referendum to determine whether to remain in the larger Sudan or secede and form it’s won sovereign Republic.
Diversion tactics
Khartoum would be the main loser if such a scenario was to occur. The country’s richest oil fields are in the South and the Khartoum Government would do anything possible to keep them. Bashir and his allies have created a similar war in the Darfur region with a view to divert the attention of the United Nations and the International Community in evaluating the implementation of the CPA.
The Bashir regime has been accused of atrocities in the Darfur region, which is being perpetrated by Janjaweed Arab militias known to enjoy patronage from his autocratic administration. The conflict has been going on since breaking out in early 2003.
On May 5, 2006, the Sudanese government and Mini Menawi-led Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M) – the largest rebel group in the region - signed the Darfur Peace Agreement, which aimed at ending the three-year long conflict. The agreement, which was brokered by African Union (AU), specified the disarmament of the Janjaweed and the disbandment of the rebel forces, and aimed at establishing a temporal government in which the rebels could take part. However, not all rebels signed the pact and instead regrouped under a united rebel movement, the National Redemption Front (NRF). Analysts say the NRF could be enjoying patronage from Khartoum, albeit clandestinely, to keep the war alive and accomplish its mission of keeping the world attention on Darfur and not Southern Sudan.
To further divert the attention of the International Community, Bashir regime has been funding and arming a rebel group in the neighboring Chad that started in December 2005. Khartoum supports the rebel Rally for Democracy and Liberty (RDL) militants.
President Bashir’s regime has never been known to have a soft spot for the media prompting members of the fourth estate to go ballistic against Khartoum in their reporting. The long-serving Head of State who seized power in a 1989 coup has on several occasions accused the media of biased reporting and “exaggerating” the extent of the conflicts that have gripped the vast nation. Of all international and regional media houses with bureau in Khartoum, none could be said to be neutral. This tense face-off between the political authority and the media has only served to worsen the situation rather than heal the wounds – past or present.
SPLM administration
On the other hand, the South is still struggling to feel the gap left by the late Garang. His successor and the Sudan’s Vice-President Salva Kiir, though a student of Garang, has failed to effectively bargain for allocation of national funds with a view to benefit his region which is a total contradiction of the North, in terms of development. He is too moderate, diplomatic and awfully calculative.
The South, which has a semi-autonomous administration with Kiir as President has likewise failed to engage her neighbors in order to jump-start development.
Security officers of Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) have on several occasions been engaged in conflicts with investors from Kenya and Uganda. Upon the signing of the CPA, Garang had pointed at Kenya as the “trusted” neighbor who could be engaged to rebuild the collapsed economy of the South.
All is not well in the semi-autonomous administration of Southern Sudan.
Dr. Riek Machar is the GoSS second in command in what insiders say is a mere political marriage of convenience to avert an internal crisis within the GoSS ruling elite. Machar, currently the chief-mediator in the on-going peace talks for Uganda, is not new to controversy. At one stage he broke ranks with Garang’s-SPLM/A and formed a splinter group with the sole purpose of overthrowing the “popular” Garang as the de facto leader of the South. After he failed in his first mission, he engaged Bashir and brokered a deal that handed him the Vice-Presidency to the chagrin of the Southerners. He later rejoined SPLM/A during the peace conference in Kenya and became its third in command till the death of Garang in a plane clash.
His allies within GoSS have been accused of the cause of disquiet now engulfing the Salva Kiir administration. His main ally is the Sudan’s Foreign minister Lam Akol with whom he staged the 1990’s failed coup against Garang.
Machar has been accused of using his position to appoint his kinsmen to strategic positions in the GoSS and even at one time lobbied for his private oil firm – White Nile Petroleum Company – to be granted concessions, but it was flatly rejected by the GoSS Cabinet. Other insiders say he has shown sympathetic tendencies to Khartoum after he accepted to be sworn in to the National Legislative Assembly. According to the CPA for Sudan, one is prohibited from taking an oath of office twice. Machar took a second oath when he had already been sworn in for a constitutional position in the GoSS. Machar, however, has denied all these allegations.
South-North border
The boundary separating Southern Sudan from her neighbor in the North was expected to be drawn mid this year. Indications are, however, showing that the exercise may wait till next year.
Demarcation is a contentious issue in the Sudan as it will outrightly determine who goes with the revered oil fields, all in readiness for a possible secession by the South in 2011. Khartoum, expected to lose the oil fields to the South, has been accused of delaying the release of funds to the boundary commission, allegations the unity government led by Bashir denies.
Bashir has even reneged on the CPA clause that he withdraws Sudan Armed Forces from the South by July 9, this year. Khartoum has come under harsh criticism from none other but United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon for violating the CPA.
Definitely, though guns have gone silent in the Sudan, stability – political and military - may take years to be realized.
Ends…