Chelsea after the exit of the "Special One"

It is no longer news that Jose "The special One" Mourinho has left Chelsea. What is interesting to me is the near state of panic that has gripped many supporters of the Blues.

After Mourinho what next for Chelsea?...

To start at the beginning, i have followed the "progress" of Chelsea from their status pre-Mourinho as a club that competes for honors but never quite had the required push to beat the top clubs like Manchester United and Arsenal. Then came first the billions of the Russian Abrahomich followed by the "modest" Mourinho.

Mourinho had done the near impossible. Rising from relative obscurity he had won two major competitions in Europe; the most important being the Champions League with Porto. He became a beautiful bride and Chelsea won his signature.

Without doubt Mourinho had done well for himslef and Chelsea in three years. Notably he gave the Chelsea faithfuls their first taste of Barclays Premiership after 5o years of waiting. This was where the story really began to show. There are a few factors that have helped to effect a change of guards at Stamford Bridge.

In the first place, Mourinho will find it eternally difficult to prove that he could have won the Barclays League without the billions of Abrahamovich.

Secondly i think Chelsea got themselves a world class coach without looking at the soft issues with the man Jose. Jose had coached a small club where he had done so well. Coming to a bigger club required a change in attitude. Mourinho had classed himslef special and needed his ego to be so caressed. But unfortunately the club is run; not by a board, but by a young billionaire who himself needed his ego to be massaged. Conflict was inevitable.

Thirdly, Mourinho was beginning to put in place a system that revolved around him and not the club. Mourinho was more important; in the eyes of the players and even the supporters , than Chelsea. The players seem to play for him and not the Blue they wore. That is bad. Compared to clubs like Manchester United and Arsenal, they needed to put that issue to bed very quickly.

Further, how the many faithfuls of Chelsea could ever think that Abrahomich would put in so much of "his" personal finance into the club and walk away, allowing others to run the club or him beats me. None of us, would in Roman's shoes do any better. We will always want to "poke" our noses from time to time. A manager needs to understand that.

Finally, Mourinho was beginning to feel the pressure. This was the first season he would be put on a shoe-string budget and he panicked. Throughout last season Mourinho found it had to be magnanimous in defeat and would always attribute his losses to either:

Chelsea did not play well
Referees bias or
Injuries to key players.

That same song played itself out when they failed to win the Charity Shield.

The lesson for all.

Clubs who are today enjoying foreign investments must realise that sooner or later these billionaires will begin to demand results commensurate with their investment.

What i am waiting for is the reaction of the players. We will know now if they joined Chelsea to be part of a tradition or for the monery and/or Jose. My gut feeling is that Jose's exit will signal an exodus from Chelsea. Not because the new man would demand it but because over the past few seasons the club have acquired a set of players who are mercenaries and staunch supporters of the "Special One". That will be bad for Chelsea.

In the long run, Chelsea will be better for losing Jose. The English League will also be better for it. Clubs need passion and modesty; coaches who can lose well and celebrate success with magnanimity; players who are passionate about the clubs they play for and not those who play for the highest pay check.

Time will tell...

The Super Falcons abandoned at the airport!

There was an interesting news making the rounds in Nigeria this morning. It was about the return of the Super Falcons from the World Women's Cup in China.

We learnt that there was no welcome delegation adn no bus to meet them at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport.

Opinion on this development have been diverse. Some have said it was a deliberate action aimed at punishing the girls for standing up to the Football Association in China and demanding for their agreed match bonuses and daily allowances. Others too have said it is a sad re-confirmation of the ineptitude of the football authorities in Nigeria. Perhaps, others have argued, it is a tale of the Football association forgetting to send a bus to pick them up. Afterall over the past few weeks the Nigerian football Association has been engaged in two main activities:

1. Taking the Golden Eaglets round the country to "show" them off to states and companies who are suddenlly falling over themselves to "reward" the team for winning the FIFA U17 Championship
2. A no-holds-barred confrontation with the Nigerian Football League over who has more authority over the local league in Nigeria.

Whatever the issues are, one thing is very clear ...Can we truly demand the best from these girls or any other female Natuional team if we refuse to treat them with respect?