There
will be plenty of people in football who would have been delighted to see
Chelsea thrashed by Sunderland just days after their callous dismissal of Ray
Wilkins.
They
showed a total lack of class in letting their assistant manager go, and
yesterday's 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge makes you wonder if karma really does
exist in football.
In
any walk of life, you can't go round alienating the good guys who people
respect. What goes around comes around, and at some time you're going to get
punished.
Even
so, it was an amazing result. Chelsea have had the odd slip-up on their travels,
but you'd never bet on them losing at home - let alone copping an absolute thrashing.
I
have a lot of respect for Ray, and was fortunate enough to play with him at QPR.
I was totally surprised Chelsea axed him, because I cannot imagine him
upsetting anyone. You'd struggle to find a better-liked person in the game.
The
assistant manager is a big, big presence at a football club, because he is the link
between the players and the manager.
Managers
can be quite aloof, and distant, and the assistant is the one in the middle who
lets the players know what the boss is thinking, and vice versa.
Ray
was the man who brought the Chelsea squad to Carlo Ancelotti, and the powers
that be at Stamford Bridge clearly believe the Italian's English is up to
scratch and he no longer needs Wilkins. I think that is a big mistake.
Someone
as respected as Ray Wilkins is a very strong influence at Chelsea. He will be
missed and they will find it very difficult to replace him.
The
assistant has to be a great communicator - for example, at the moment I imagine
Roberto Mancini's assistant Brian Kidd is working very hard at Manchester City to
keep people happy.
Kidd
was a key figure at Manchester United, smoothing relations between the squad
and Alex Ferguson - he has a real job on his hands now at City.
It
is probably even more important in today's football, because players have such
big egos. You need to have someone who can manage awkward situations, and give
advice on both sides.
The
Premier League has thrown up its share of surprises this season, and there
seems to be more of a level playing field where anyone can beat anyone else -
it is genuinely unpredictable.
I'm
not sure you can say it's the best quality in the world, but the supporters are
enjoying it. Supposedly smaller teams are not afraid to lose, and they are
throwing men forward, making for a great spectacle.