Early Doors - Your morning briefing blog

Dead man walking

Tue Apr 15 08:53AM

Yesterday, Early Doors mentioned Justin Hoyte as one of those people whose presence on or near the pitch increases his team's chances of failure by about 300 percent.

We can probably add to the list the names of Alex, Wayne Bridge, John Obi Mikel, Florent Malouda and Chelsea's dead man walking Avram Grant.

The Israeli's decision to leave out Joseph and Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba and Ricardo Carvalho against Wigan was compounded by Frank Lampard's last-minute withdrawal due to his mother's illness.

Meanwhile Petr Cech appeared with a chinstrap possibly borrowed from a royal guardsman. Had he also loaned a bearskin hat, to create a deluxe version of the David James afro, he might also have headed Emile Heskey's equaliser off the line.

Chelsea were clueless in the first half. So completely and hopelessly inept the notion that they were in contention to win 'The Best League In The World^TM' seemed not just fanciful but borderline insane.

Joey Cole perked them up after the break, but it was inevitable that their inability to finish teams off would eventually haunt them, as the prolific Heskey popped up to snaffle his third goal of the season.

Grant's team selection was dodgy at best but, as always in football, you only get pilloried when you fail to win.

Had Manchester United lost to Arsenal on Sunday, more questions might be asked about why Park Ji-Sung played instead of Ryan Giggs or Carlos Tevez. But United won, so nobody cared.

- - -

However bad the Chelsea players were, they paled in comparison with the crowd, who exceeded their fickle, complacent, pampered reputation.

You don't have to like Grant, but when he has led your team to the brink of the title, playing much the same football as Jose Mourinho, it's probably time to cut him some slack.

But instead of getting behind their team as they laboured through the first half, the audience (a better word than crowd, as it reflects their passivity) chose only to show their displeasure, booing them off at the break.

Had Manchester United, Liverpool or even Arsenal conceded a 90th-minute equaliser, their fans would have whipped up a three-minute cauldron of noise, hoping to inspire a dramatic injury time winner.

The only sound at Stamford Bridge was that of plastic seats flipping back to their upright position as a mass exodus ensued.

The few who stayed jeered the introduction of Andriy Shevchenko, booed at the final whistle and booed again as the players left the field.

These players have not been vanquished in a league game in front of their ungrateful 'supporters' for over 80 games, and yet Heather Mills would have got a better reception at a Beatles gig.

As well as remaining unbeaten at home since something like 1963, Chelsea have 75 points from 34 games.

If they won their three games against Everton, Newcastle and Bolton, and draw against United, they would end the season with 85 points.

While less than they managed in each of their two title-winning seasons, it would still have been enough to win the championship both times (the runners-up had 83 in both 2004-05 and 05-06).

And 85 points would have won the title in the first four years after the Premier League was reduced to 20 teams.

All of which statistical mumbo jumbo goes to show - you'd have to be an idiot to boo Chelsea off after a draw.

- - -

Amazingly, Chelsea do not have the worst fans in the world (they are equal second with Groningen supporters, who carried out an arson attack on their own stadium at the weekend).

That honour goes to Beitar Jerusalem, who may lose their league title after a pitch invasion forced the abandonment of their game on Sunday.

Four minutes from time Beitar led 1-0, a result that would have given them an unassailable 15-point lead. But as jubilant fans poured onto the field, the referee had no choice but to abandon the game.

Beitar now face a possible points deduction and owner Arkady Gaydamak (daddy of Pompey big cheese Alexandre) prepared a superb rant to put the club's errant followers in their place.

"It's my team, not their team. They should go out from the stadium, they should go out from Beitar, they should go out from our lives. Those people are hopeless, they are insolent...and stupid," he stormed.

So you see: Avram Grant is actually having a whale of a time in England.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I know all about Gazza and I feel I can help him. A lot of top sportsmen have suffered in their private lives, including me, and that is why I want to help. I still see him as a superstar and would like to meet him if he feels up for it. Back in 2005, Wayne Rooney was on a downer and I met him and lifted his spirits. I am sure I can do the same for Paul Gascoigne." Aren't you the same Mike Tyson who once gnawed a guy's ear off and promised to eat Lennox Lewis's children?

FOREIGN VIEW: Ronaldinho won't even arrive in Milan until July, and yet the backlash has already started. Marco van Basten says the rossoneri don't need him, while Clarence Seedorf tells Corriere dello Sport the transfer is "not a priority".

TALKING POINT: Harbingers of football doom: Djimi Traore, Andriy Voronin, John O'Shea, Andy van der Meyde, Zinedine Kilbane, Lasagna (sic) Diarra and, er, Emile Heskey. Want to reconsider, gossagemartin?

Today: Who has the worst fans in the world?

COMING UP: Bums in the Championship have been squeaking for some time. There is action at both ends of the table as Wolves play West Brom and Barnsley take on Hull. Follow those live from 7.45pm.

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