A blog of two halves

Hurrah for mutiny

The west London derby looms, and attention switches to Craven Cottage after a seismic fortnight for the earthquake-prone Blues.

25 February 2019
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Chelsea goalie Kepa defies the fourth official’s illuminated board. PICTURE: GETTY IMAGES

The west London derby looms, and attention switches to Craven Cottage after a seismic fortnight for the earthquake-prone Blues.

Sometimes I drift off to sleep, dreaming of a calm, stable club where harmony reigns and results come and go in a gentle haze as rival fans link arms and sing Kumbaya along Fulham Road.

But where would be the fun in that? No, far better to support a club of absent oligarchs, goalkeeping mutinies, ever-changing managers and inbred paranoia.

It's Fulham v the Blues on Sunday; an encounter with a century of neighbourly rivalry, ever since a 2-0 win for Chelsea at the Bridge was answered by a 1-0 victory to the Whites at the Cottage in the 1910-11 season.

It will be interesting to see who's between the sticks for the boys in blue. Perhaps they'll bring back 39-year-old Robert Green. Whoever gets to wear the jersey ought to be told that when your number is up, it's up.

Kepa's defiance of the fourth official's illuminated board in the League Cup final – an unexpectedly close encounter in the end – remains baffling.

The club's official line, that it was just one of those occasional misunderstandings, is about as convincing as claiming things are going smoothly in Brexit discussions.

If the Premier League really wants to safeguard managers' well-being and sanity, it should relax the smoking bans at Stamford Bridge and Wembley immediately.

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

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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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