A blog of two halves

As grey as the weather

The fact that the Blues couldn't beat injury-hit, lacklustre West Ham in a largely tedious 1-1 draw really sums up the way this season is petering out.

9 April 2018
By Tim Harrison
Categories:
Chelsea FC
Image 1

Gary Cahill (left) and Cheikhou Kouyate battle for possession. PICTURE: GETTY IMAGES

The fact that the Blues couldn't beat injury-hit, lacklustre West Ham in a largely tedious 1-1 draw really sums up the way this season is petering out.

This weekend Chelsea travel down to Southampton for a dress rehearsal of the Wembley FA Cup semi-final; yet the team seem incapable of generating any real passion.

Last Sunday's London derby only burst into life in the final 10 minutes… but until then was as grey as the weather, not helped by the numbness around the Bridge at the loss of legend Ray Wilkins.

Eden Hazard, only lively in short spells, gave a further indication he will not be at the Bridge after May by gesturing to fans in the lower West Stand when they collectively groaned as he was tackled and lost the ball.

Now 10 points behind fourth-placed Spurs, Chelsea only have the FA Cup to tilt at.

"I hope, for the Chelsea fans and ourselves, that we can achieve something," Hazard said afterwards in an effort to mend fences, helpfully pointing out that the Blues won the title when they last failed to qualify for the Champions League.

The problem is, Europa League football takes up just as much time as the continent's premier international tournament, so any thoughts that whoever is managing the Blues in 2018/19 will have a free ride towards league glory are surely misplaced.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

Tim Harrison

Tim is our Chelsea FC blogger.

He also writes our Shepherds Bush Cricket Club match reports during the football close season.

Tim has been writing Chelsea match reports since the late 1980s for newspapers and, more recently, websites.

When he first reported on the Blues, the press box was a metal cage suspended over the lip of the old west stand - and you reached it via a precarious walkway over the heads of the fans.

But he has been a Chelsea fan since his father took an excited seven-year-old to watch Chelsea v Manchester United in the mid 1960s... and covered his ears every time the chanting got too ripe.

In July 2005 he wrote The Rough Guide to Chelsea, published by Penguin, which sold 15,000 copies.

His favourite player of all time is Charlie Cooke, the mazy winger who lit up Chelsea's left wing in the 60s and 70s.

When he isn't watching the Blues, Tim acts, paints, writes and researches local history.

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