Tony Cascarino's Champions League final fiver

1
The healing process

John Terry will recover. He symbolises the amazing drive and character that Chelsea show. He is a man mountain but he looked so distraught that I wanted to give him a hug at the end of the game.

2
Harsh and unfair

Owen Hargreaves deserved a little sympathy for the way he was treated by the referee. I don’t think the hard-tackling Manchester United man got a single decision in his favour. It was strange.

3
A work in progress

Now is not the time for Sir Alex Ferguson to quit because his squad is young and developing. There is unfinished business. If he was manager of a team of thirtysomethings, such as AC Milan, it would be different.

4
Now make your mark

I feel for Avram Grant, who has earned the right to keep his job, even though he has won nothing but a few more friends. Now the challenge is a new one for him: to delve into the transfer market and make Chelsea his team.

5
Full concentration

Ashley Cole has been playing the best and most focused football of his Chelsea career, just when his personal life has been in turmoil. You see it so often — off-field problems can result in better performances.

- Tony Cascarino

Do you agree? Leave your comments below.

Comments

[elton]

J.T. is a good player no doubt that, he has hearth and drives fear into opponents. He and Drogba typifies Jose Mourinho's type of coaching and Approach to the game. However as England captain and a supposedly role model his behaviour is not acceptable at times. he needs to keep his arrogance in a seat belt, cause it will and has shown him up when he fails. i do believe he spat on Tevez and it was retribution and punishment when he missed that penalty. i do hope for the sake of England he recovers soon though.

[Fred]

"A Hug for a Thug!", there's a nice eyecatching slogan for Cheatski next year. More likely to get the chant the red supporters were singing though "We made John Terry cry, we made John Terry cry!"

Terry's a thug and fully deserving of whatever bad karma comes his way from his glory hunting.

[Ian]

John Terry didn`t exactly deal with it the same way as David Batty but I did have sympathy.
Stand up for the the SPL Champions Tony!:-)

[Barrie Collins]

I don't recall any "appalling" off-field behaviour by John Terry. Several years ago he was involved in a fracas outside a bar, and was completely exonerated from any blame by the courts. His other off-field behaviour involves charity work above and beyond that normally expected by a professional. Would the writer of these libelous comments please be more specific; the rest of us may have missed something.

Rather than wonder why the crude tackling of Hargreaves drew the ref's attention, perhaps the writer could mull over why Evra's persistent kicking and hacking of opponents was totally ignored. Sir Alex must love him; a guy who can foul opponents without getting called for it. A Man U natural if ever I saw one!

Finally, why did Vidic not receive a second yellow for his part in the little contretemps that saw Drogba sent off? His behaviour certainly warranted it.

[Ian Baker]

JTs pathetic blabbering, ineptitude from the spot (yes that is what it was) mirrors his appalling off and on field behaviour; what seems to have gone unnoticed in all this "hero" gumf is his declining performances; not fit to play let alone captain Ing-ur-lund.

[Jim A]

I agree with everything the previous posts have mentioned, the Chelsea team once again gave the referee no respect, and were in his face the entire match. As for the England team, if Woodgate is fit I'd gladly see him partner captain Rio in defence, bringing back the Leeds glory days (even though I'm a Hull City fan!)

[alex spiers]

John Terry is a hero. This is a man who's "petulance" is a minor side-effect of his unrelenting drive and effort to lead his team by example through the shedding of much blood, much sweat, and on wednesday, a waterfall of tears. His breakdown was like Atlas letting down the weight of the world, and only after the match, when it did not matter anymore. If half of the other players for England had a tenth of his iron will, we'd be champions of the world by now.

[Ben]

Tony,

Always enjoy your fivers, however dissapointed today. Why don't you tell us what you really thought of the conduct of Chelsea in Moscow. Give Terry a hug? Surely you have seen enough petulance over the last few seasons from him to find his miss deserving.

[Seb]

John Terry doesn't deserve a hug. He deserves everything he gets. His off-field behaviour has been consistently appalling for years, yet because everyone thinks he is an 'honest professional' he is forgiven for these numerous indicretions. And to cry for fifteen minutes after the shoot out? Pathetic. You didn't see the Enbgland Rugby team in tears when they lost to South Africa last year, they behaved with dignity. Terry's display after the match is what I would expect from a spoilt child, not an adult, let alone the England Captain. I am ashamed to be an English football fan when he is wearing the armband.

[Andrew]

Tery spat on an opponent and is constantly in the ref's face. As an ex-pro, is this the sort of person who should be put forward as the sort of man youngsters should aspire to copy?

[Osgoodisgood]

Is Avram Grant really the manager you want as the architect of the rebuilding of Chelsea if the exodus really happens. Can he bring on young players and mold them into his system (the Avram Grant system?). Does he give you that level of confidence that you want the next few seasons riding on his choices?