The club had parted company with their assistant manager, after it was hurriedly revealed on Chelsea TV during the second half of the reserve side's impressive 4-0 win over Bayern Munich.
But it leaves the question on the lips of Chelsea supporters everywhere: why ?
Wilkins was seen sitting in the stand at Cobham alongside Carlo Ancelotti, enjoying the reserves' friendly game. There seemed to be little problem between the two. In fact, as reported Chelsea TV, the news of Wilkins' departure from the football club was greeted with widespread shock all around the training complex.
Early whisperings were that the 54-year-old's dismissal follow some sort of 'incident' involving him which occurred last night. Other talk on the rumour-mill centres on stalling contract negotiations. Whatever the issue between assistant and club there is one thing that is not in dispute, and that is the shoddy treatment by the club of a great servant.
Wilkins was a very successful assistant, contributing to last season's Double-winning success as well as holding the fort in the turmoil of February 2009 after Luiz Felipe Scolari was sacked. He has worked closely with the players on the training field and, despite the craziness of the managerial merry-go-round that has often been in place at Stamford Bridge, Wilkins has been that rock of continuity.
But, much more than that, he was also a terrific footballer for the club, our youngest-ever captain and a major player for us in the middle-to-late 1970s. His contribution in helping us win promotion back to the top flight in 1976-77 was huge, as was the £800k transfer fee a debt-riddled Chelsea received for him from Manchester United in 1979.
Does his contribution to the football club over 37 years merit such a rushed announcement during the second half of a reserve team friendly at Cobham? Doesn't he deserve more than what is clearly a hurriedly-put-together, two-paragraph-long statement on the club's official site?
And as for the club rushing to rip his official bio from the website mere moments after giving him the boot, well that's just simply treating a great club servant with contempt.
Inevitably, as sure as night follows day, talk now turns to his successor as Carlo Ancelotti's right-hand man. Rumoured appointments include Gianfranco Zola, Steve Clarke, Paulo Maldini and even Gus Poyet. We're told negotiations between the club and an anonymous big name are already at an advanced stage. We'll endeavour to keep you informed.
Ancelotti had been effusive in his praise of Wilkins in his autobiography. "Ray is one of those select few, always present, noble in spirit, a real blue-blood, Chelsea flows in his veins," he wrote. "His heart beats in two languages, and that helped me. Without him, we couldn't have won a thing, and in particular we would not have started the year at supersonic speed."
http://www.chelsea.vitalfootball.co.uk/
No comments:
Post a Comment