An unrelated photo from Mourinho’s sacking. Still…
Normally if there is a fence nearby, The Spoiler will happily spark up a cig, grab a flask of milky coffee, and sit on the thing. Getting stuck in is not really an option.
And yet, from time to time, something will come along that really sticks in the collective craw, and, frankly, harsh words will have to be spoken/written. Such as today, thanks to a gaggle of Chelsea fans who appear to have forgotten the bad old days.
The days before the Abramovich millions. Before Lampsie, Drog-Drog, JT, and the Cole Sisters. The torrid, turbulent 1970s and 1980s, when there was no money, relegation battles, the threat of losing Stamford Bridge, Ken Bates buying the club for a quid.
In short, a time when the luxury of even standing alongside the greatest teams in Europe was just a (crack) pipe dream.
News has filtered in from various forums that some current Chelsea fans didn’t care much for the Champions League anyway and would rather win the Community Shield, the sour grapes spreading enough to suggest that the competition is “corrupt” and unfair.
From a club that has demonstrated a commitment to “fair play” which has led them to shelling out preposterous money on some of the world’s greatest players, this does seem a little, ahem, rich.
Comments include:
The FA Cup and league will always come first imo
along with the league cup then charity shield before that corrupt compo
I care less about it every time some officials decide to dick on us.
I simply can’t allow myself to be bothered by it. Frankly no literary figure, or porno director could possibly have imagined the sheer variety of ways in which we’d get screwed over the last 6 years.
The Spoiler is all for supporters getting behind their clubs during torrid times, and always expecting more from their team. But there is a thin line between “passionate” and “a bit babyish” - this line may have been crossed.
Rant over.
PS. Before you start, The Spoiler is not anti-Chelsea. Some of our best friends happen to swing that way.
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9 responses so far
1 Tim // Mar 18, 2010 at 1:18 pm
You’d think Abramovich could afford a better class of supporter.
2 Tom // Mar 18, 2010 at 1:19 pm
Wow, what a waste of time this post was. To highlight such a misguided, yet tame comment shows how weak this premise was. You can find similar comments on every message board for every club on the planet. What club doesn’t have fans who claim bias against them on message boards? And then to try and preempt all criticism with that PS at the end?
Come on, Josh. You’re better than that.
3 anon // Mar 18, 2010 at 1:23 pm
The chelsea fans that think the champions league is worthless/ meaningless/ not important in comparison to the FA cup, the carling cup and the charity shield are deluded. It’s a bit like saying that as England fan, since we’ve been screwed over in all the world cups since after ‘66, the world cup is not important, I would rather have England win the home championships every time. Where is the logic in that?
4 JoshBurt // Mar 18, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Point taken Tom. But I do feel that Chelsea are an EXCEPTIONAL team, in that the “rags to riches” transformation has been rather swift, and shouldn’t be taken for granted. Surely the real fans should still be basking in the glories now afforded to the club, not bemoaning their sorry luck? That was the point.
5 anon // Mar 18, 2010 at 2:23 pm
The ironic thing is that their greatest ever manager made his name in the Champions League, if Mourinho never won the Champions League, and just won the Portugese cup and league all the time, would they ever think, let’s try this guy?
6 Tom // Mar 18, 2010 at 2:27 pm
So you spotted a few fans who aren’t “real”. Again, is that really that big a deal?
Now, if fans were joining together in large numbers to protest UEFA or put together well organized petitions and such, then you might have a story, but a few comments on a message board? Really?
Especially on the heels of your shocking revelation that the away dressing room at Stamford Bridge isn’t as nice as the home one, it all seems like nitpicking, really.
7 mustard // Mar 18, 2010 at 3:10 pm
I love Chelsea’s annual ejection from the champions league. My favourite was the terry penalty miss. I also enjoyed drogba screaming - “it’s a disgrace” at the camera. And this year’s “forgetting to turn up” at home to inter was magic too.
8 platini // Mar 18, 2010 at 3:29 pm
Hey Tom, lighten up - you should wait and see what Sepp and I have got in store for you next year. We’ve put our best brains on our anti-Chelsea conspiracies for 2010/11 - your sense of humour may never recover!
9 Todd // Mar 19, 2010 at 5:17 pm
I heard the same comments from Chelsea fans after Spurs put one over on them a few years back in CC action. Guess they better get used to not caring about any silverware.