Thank you Frank, thank you Avram

Seldom have I taken such pleasure in being wrong. And , in all honesty, that is the last time I will doubt the commitment, quality and character of Frank Lampard.

Comfortably Chelsea’s most creative player on the night, with Ballack acting as foil but playing second fiddle, Lampard’s range of passing and nerveless penalty showed his England colleague, Steven Gerrard, in the worst possible light. With Gerrard virtually anonymous and Alonso showing little of the flair he produced in the first leg, this was the Chelsea midfield’s hard-won reward for the previous disappointments. On no other European occasion between these two sides has one team been markedly superior. Make no mistake: the better side won, and won well.

No time for a full report at the moment, although I will spare a mention for the small army of Liverpool fans who’ve wandered onto CFCnet to offer their congratulations and best wishes. After the opprobrium of previous encounters, it’s magnificent to see a little sportsmanship and magnanimity. I salute you.
Mentions in dispatches go to every player in the team, but stand-out performers for this humble commentator were:

Michael Essien, who somehow got away with playing large swathes of the game deep in the opposition half despite being fielded as a right back. Yet another brilliant performance from the Man We’d Be Most Insane To Sell this summer.

Florent Malouda, who came on the pitch and surprised me by not making a complete hash of every forward foray.

Ricardo Carvalho and John Terry, who look to be heading back to their unshakeable best just in time for the Champions League final.

Claude Makelele, who is and remains a bona fide modern Chelsea legend.

Ash Cole,  who may have been slightly at fault for Benayoun’s run that led to the equaliser, but who was unflappable in defence for the rest of the game.

Michael Ballack. Calm, contained, and genuinely gelled with Frank.

Salomon Kalou for perseverance and a moment of inspiration that led to the first goal.

Joe Cole, who was quiet by his standards but coped well with a mudbath of a pitch.

Nicolas Anelka, with a smart contribution as the game neared its climax.

Andriy Shevchenko, for doing what was needed as the clock ticked and the coronaries gathered.

And, of course, the outstanding Didier Drogba, who would have been perfectly within his rights to have rubbed a little mud in Rafael Benitez’ face.

Thanks to all of them. And thanks and respect to a man who, despite this momentous win, is still being denied credit from many of my fellow Blue fans. There comes a point at which you have to hold up your hands and admit that your manager has done a top job. I've reached it. Thank you Avram.

Comments

[sonia]

WEL DONE BLUES
I believe our team has showed the world how good they are, Frank was brillent,its not only about panelty but the way he played through out the game is admirable. Credit also goes to the rest of the team especially D.D....
manu and liv fans sulk all the want but they can deny the fact that CHELSEA is here to stay on TOP........

[johnboyblue]

So funny to listen to all the Scousers bile still fresh from defeat....still, your club in turmoil and without a trophy (again)and nothing meaningfull in your lives except distant memories of once what was, so its understandable.

[John]

well, if the season would have started when Grant joined - we would have been in 1st place -that says it all !!!!

[I R Ony]

Paradox. Liverpool and Manc fans posting classless and crowing messages about Chelsea's crowing and lack of class.
Losers, all.

[Costas]

It is amazing how everybody talks about the amount of money Abramovich has spent on Chelsea and not how well the team did to get to the final of the champions league or how they are on the same points as Man U at the top of the best football league in the world.How much did the owners of Man U pay to buy the club? how much did they spend on players?To be one of the best teams in the world you need to spend money on players its common sence!Well done Chelsea give united hell in Moscow.

[Natasha (chelsea fan)]

oh and just to add, Frank just lost his mum! and for him to even play, let alone score the penalty was amazing, and the fact he nearly colapsed at the side and had to get held up.. i think he done pretty well!

[Natasha (chelsea fan)]

iam a chelsea fan so iam going to stick up for them but that person who torn chelsea to shreds above .. well it will be below when ive posted this, but is there any team that palys fair anymore? i dont think so so dont try and rule out one team because you dont suport them, everyne knows every team dives, or everything else you mentioned. Give it a break eh .. wat team is it you suport? not one of them have ever dived no? really dont think so! its a game of football for god sake, some people win some people loose, thats wat its all about, it will be differnt teams next year!

think you shld just calm down and watch a game of football for a change instead of judging everything!

ohh and just for the record no one was asking you to suport us to win either, follow your own team and we will follow ours!

[Rob]

Well, bejesus, There really are people in the world bitter enough and unpleasant enough to turn a congratulatory blog post into an exercise in how to demonstrate mean-spiritedness.

I've read a lot of articles over the last few years on how football has lost its soul. But they overlook fans like you people, who absolutely have the football they deserve.

[Phil J N]

Yes, Thank you Frank.
Thank you for being overhyped and overrated for the last 12 months. Thank you for being a surly, miserable, classless drone on TV in both an England Shirt and a Chelsea one.
And thank you Didier, for being the only 6ft+ tank across all leagues who can fall flat on his arrogant sneering physog at the merest presence of anyone within a 3 yard radius.
Thank you also JT, for your cromagnon beligerence, and especially your trailing leg kick in the chest of El Nino in the 1st leg, that was conveniently ignored by ALL the press coverage, but was as clear as day in the replays that it was intentional.
All in all, thank you Chelsea and Roman for reminding Arsenal, Liverpool, Man United, and all other clubs up and down the league structure in the UK, that if you combine arrogance, deceit, gamesmanship, stroppyness, Ref baiting, media courting, with a huge bottomless pit of a bank account belonging to a dubious Eastern European "businessman"... you can win a couple of league titles and a smattering of cups.

"Sour grapes", I hear the blue tinted howling.
Hardly.
My sworn enemies of 40 years , Manchester United, are facing you in 3 weeks time, and much as it sticks in my craw, they have more history, more class, more style, and much more "right" to that cup than your crew will ever have.
Sour grapes?
Not at all... if your team cost a billion pounds, but played with a little honesty and integrity, I`d be happy to grudgingly wish you well against the "auld enemy".
You dont.
You haven`t.
I wont.
Have at them Fergie!
Take both cup and title..and expose this team of beligerent cheats for what they are.. a mere 5 year "blip".

[Will Fred]

I don't think I have ever seen more cringeworthy celebrations after a victory - truly toe curling.

[Neil]

You are absolutly right - I did start supporting Utd last Wednesday, the moment the ref blew the final whistle and Chelsea made it to the final, I don't usually support Utd, but I will on the 21st May.

I guess all you Chelsea boys will amble your way off to Russia as it's worth going to that match. You can't be bothered to make it up to Everton or Bolton on cold Tuedays nights though can you? The cheek to tell Liverpool that their support was rubbish on Wednesday night.

Talk about class - Ashley Cole, John Terry, Frank Lampard - yeah these boys have class, bundles of it.

[Rob]

How delightful to see Manchester United fans demonstrating all the class and grace you'd expect from them. Clearly the United whiner below has no memory of the times when his team were very much the second side in Manchester, let alone England. How quickly we forget, or never knew... or only started supporting United last Wednesday.

[KN]

While you ungrateful pessimists are still criticizing Avram for not controlling the game blah blah, can you also keep in mind that there's always another (so called qualified) genius on the other side devising tactics til the final whistle? Chelsea won at the end; that's the result.

[Neil]

Chelsea’s' stature...
Don't make me laugh.
I laugh when people reflect on the "big 4" and see how things were years ago -.... when Chelsea were nowhere near big, infact Chelsea were parading the Simod Cup along their sorry West London Streets.
Big Club, Big Fans......big fall coming
You have no respect for a manager that has more than matched his predecessor, just because he doesn't want to be loved by the press you criticise him.... do you want Glenn to come back and spout nonsense to the press....will that do for you?
COME ON UTD

[Nick]

what's with the "thank you frank" stuff doing the rounds everywhere you turn? the guy scored one goal that too as a penalty! how about thank you drogba? isnt he the one who scored two goals while in play????

[Steve, NJ, USA]

Hats off to Avram Grant! Against all adversity you have emerged a winner.

You stayed cool calm and collected in the face of shear hate, racial and otherwise wrongful.

You have watched your dad, a proud dad who came to see his son act as the coach of one of the best teams in the world, be treated horribly by a racist group of jerks. You have endured death threats and sexual threats against your wife. A media crowd that just sat there waiting for you to falter. Anyone else would have run away. But not you - you are a hero my friend.

I salute you today - so should every Chelsea fan. I apologize to you for doubting you at times - so should every Chelsea fan. You are a true warrior - a celebrity. Thank you!

[David B.]

Make no mistake , without Avram Chelsea would be finished this year.
Make no mistake, Avram doesnt want to stay in Chelsea next year and you are one of the reasons.

But you will see him in the other side of the field.

Be aware.....

[Rob]

Sadly, Mozek, there are always going to be Chelsea fans who expect their team to control every game. I think you do a little disservice to Liverpool, who (with Torres and Gerrard) are never going to go through a match without a chance to score.

Whether Avram is the right man to manage this club for seasons to come... well, that's up to Roman. But I'm comfortable in saying that this is a win that he managed. We can't hanker after Jose forever.

[Mozek Muccie]

While I agree with most of what you have said I believe it is incredibly fickle to believe that this season's achievement is a reflection of Avram Grant's suitability to managing a team of Chelseas' stature. I still have no time for the fellow. Not least because he has been shown up too many times when a coach of superior talents would not! So while I congratulate him on the achievement, I am not blinded by it. The long term future of the club should be guided by someone of proven ability. Many factors made this achievement possible. Drogba, home leg coming second and finally having players like Lamps who have experienced this heart break thrice!! It would be unwise to ignore the fact that Avram failed to "manage" the score and the momentum of the game when Chelsea where in control, allowing Liverpool back into the game. Thats just my two pennies!!

[Chris]

Well said mate.

Hats off to Chelsea.

Against both United and Liverpool we showed we are a truely world class team.