Heskey strike destroys Chelsea's title challenge
By Henry Winter
Sport.Telegraph, 15th April 2008
A second-rate manager in Avram Grant. A second-place finish in the Premier
League. Roman Abramovich can surely do the maths and realise that Grant is
not good enough for a club of Chelsea's vaulting ambition. Abramovich cannot
have invested £500 million for second best.
The sooner he jettisons Grant in the summer and appoints a coach of genuine
substance the quicker Chelsea can re-build. Seconds out, the infighting
in the Blue corner may intensify after this embarrassing surrender,
dressing-room tensions exacerbated by grim confirmation of Grant's
inability to inspire.
Breaking the cardinal end-of-season rule of always play your best XI,
Grant omitted Ricardo Carvalho and Ashley Cole altogether, and kept
Joe Cole on the bench for 45 minutes. Chelsea fans were dismayed by a
team-sheet written with Everton on Thursday in mind, Wigan were delighted.
Only when Cole arrived did Chelsea perk up.
Frank Rikjaard was last night installed as favourite to succeed Grant
in the closed-season, working with people he knows well like Henk ten
Cate and Frank Arnesen. Grant, of course, can rescue his season with
success in the Champions League, but the fans have clearly decided that
this uncharismatic individual is not for them.
Whistles of derision followed Grant down the tunnel at half-time, the
mood lifting only when he promptly sent on Joe Cole, who helped
orchestrate Michael Essien's strike. But when Steve Bruce's hugely
positive response to adversity, sending on attacker after attacker,
paid off with Emile Heskey's injury-time equaliser, cries of "You
don't know what you're doing" reverberated briefly around the Bridge.
Grant cut a dejected figure as he sloped down the tunnel.
This result and performance made a mockery of Grant's belief that his
team "deserve" to win the title. United play the better football and
have the better manager. One of the more alarming headlines of the
season signalled that Grant was about to be handed a "£100 million
war-chest" by Abramovich.
Chelsea are a good club, with a strong squad, loyal fans, a generous
owner and exceptional training facilities but they lack a first-class
manager. For those ambitious players who can look beyond the noughts
at the end of their pay-cheque, why would they want to sign for Grant?
Having squandered Jose Mourinho's inheritance, the Carling Cup and FA
Cup he won last season, Grant now faces mission impossible in the Premier
League. Chelsea lie five points behind United with four games left. The
way Chelsea are playing so unconvincingly under Grant, Sir Alex Ferguson's
side could well seal the title here on April 26, the ultimate indignity
for Grant.
When Heskey celebrated his 400th game with that late, late strike, Bruce
danced on the pitch just as Ferguson famously did when Bruce, his old
warhorse of a centre-half, scored for him against Sheffield Wednesday in
1993. Bruce's phone will have rattled with a thank you message from his
old mentor, and doubtless a bottle of something expensive and red will
make its way from Old Trafford to the JJB Stadium.
A drop of Grant's defined last night. Mr Average had made the bizarre
decision to keep the effervescent Joe Cole in reserve until the break.
Stamford Bridge was close to ferment, calling constantly for Cole. When
he arrived, he brought skill and invention to Chelsea's attacks, helping
create Essien's strike, and the Bridge was left wondering why he had
not started.
The opening period had hardly lifted the spirits, Grant's men playing
like strangers in the night. The Chelsea employee's whose first-half
work most impressed was the in-house television man who somehow found
enough highlights for the half-time package.
Grant had been forced to juggle his midfield at the last minute when
Frank Lampard left the ground, the club citing "family reasons" for
the midfielder's sudden absence. At least, Chelsea fans had the
reassuring sight of the returning Petr Cech, not that they could see
much of their battle-scarred goalkeeper. "He's got two masks, he's
our No 1", declared the Bridge's excited master of ceremonies.
For 45 minutes, it was stultifying fare with Chelsea fans singing
endlessly for Joe Cole, whom Grant kept in reserve until the break in
preparation for Thursday's trip to Everton. Within 30 seconds, Cole
had sent Michael Essien charging down the inside-right channel and
also tried a shot at goal, which flew into a thicket of white shirts.
When Cole then geed his team-mates up, gesticulating animatedly, the
fans responded. Here was someone willing to take the game to Wigan,
to ensure United did not enjoy a procession. Here was some trickery
Chelsea's attacking moves craved.
Cole's introduction proved the timeliest of tonics, a shot in the arm
to the sluggish Blues, keeping the flickering flame of their title
ardour. John Terry went close. Salomon Kalou saw a close-range shot
saved brilliantly by the excellent Chris Kirkland. Then Cole's 54th-minute
cross from the right set the scene for Chelsea's break-through, Nicolas
Anelka nudging the ball back to Essien, whose 20-yard shot flew past
the unsighted Kirkland.
Bruce shuffled his pack, introducing Jason Koumas, Antoine Sibierski
and Marlon King. Ferguson would have been proud of Bruce, whose
Wigan side embodied United's refusal to yield. Bruce's changes almost
worked late on when King flicked the ball on to Sibierski, whose low
shot was saved by Cech. On a night when both goalkeepers excelled,
Kirkland then made a stunning stop from Essien.
But then came Heskey, sliding in at the far-post to meet Koumas'
expert cross. Bruce danced on the pitch. Doubtless Ferguson permitted
himself a little jig in front of his TV. The race is all but run.
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