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The Man in The Shed




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18th August – The homecoming

SKY’s decision to move our game to Sunday meant that I would have to miss the big homecoming. I was absolutely gutted.

The vitriol thrown at a young centre forward with the guts to step up and take a key penalty was insane to me. The archaic values of some people are beyond words. As Frank said – we’ve all missed them.

The real fans made sure that Abraham felt loved.

My biggest fear was both the mental and physical impact of the last game. A hundred and twenty minutes in the heat whilst Leicester had their feet up watching on the box.

I had to admit that when weighing up the prospects of each team in the Premier league this season I saw the likes of Leicester, Wolves and Everton as real rivals for the top six.

Well the highlights don’t always tell the real story but the energy of our first half display was a delight to watch. And the joy of seeing young Mason Mount scoring his first senior Chelsea goal must have made a home crowd feel like proud parents. How the introduction of a couple of home grown talents and a legend as the manager were invigorating the club was palpable. The only real disappointment was a failure to back up our dominance with further goals.

I wasn’t quite sure about those pink away shirts. Perhaps that’s why the original referee failed to turn up – on the grounds of bad taste in kit design.

Well, this was a classic game of two halves. Chelsea faded badly in the second half. Maddison was running the show and even with Kanté in the side we looked badly exposed at times.

It was therefore no great surprise when we conceded an equaliser. Of greater shock was that we avoided any further goals.

So a home draw. Three games and still no wins but somehow the excitement of Lampard and the kids is still keeping us all buzzing. There seems a strange sense of building something new and special and knowing that this means probably no trophies for a while.

On the positive side Mason Mount looks a real player who will only get better. Emerson looks a safe bet at left back with a solid attacking edge. The next two games against promoted teams are both winnable.

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