Source: Daily_Mail
Enemies of the game (part II): Drogba back in Bridge doghouse
Even when the world is ready to shower them with sympathy, Chelseasomehow end up as the enemies of football. It must be part of theirmakeup, a hangover, seemingly, from the Jose Mourinho era whencontroversy and confrontation were the travelling companions of anundeniably classy football team.[LNB]The provocation on Wednesday night was considerable and not justbecause of Tom Henning Ovrebo's inability to see straight or thinkclearly. There were heated exchanges between the two benches for muchof the match, the situation worsening once Didier Drogba came off after72 minutes of intense physical battle.[LNB] Reffing and blinding: Ovrebo was the target of severe abuse from Drogba...[LNB] Get Drogba out of here: Chelsea owner Abramovich loses patience after striker's tantrumGRAHAM POLL WEBCHAT: Were Chelsea robbed? Does Darren Fletcher deserve to have his red card rescinded? UEFA confirm Drogba could be facing action - if ref makes official complaintAt one stage Chelsea's combustible striker was so angered by something he leapt to his feet to remonstrate with his tormentors, waving a long, slender finger in their direction. [LNB]But it was when Ovrebo blew the final whistle that a switch flicked in Drogba's head. He lost control and all sense of responsibility, destroying any hope Chelsea might have had of regaining the moral high ground after Michael Ballack's initial outburst on the pitch.[LNB]It was a ludicrous reaction from a man who had battled so courageously in the two legs of an utterly absorbing Champions League semi-final. [LNB]A protest so pointless when Ovrebo's mistakes had already been witnessed by the thousands present at Stamford Bridge and the millions watching on television, when everyone could already see Chelsea were the victims of a gross injustice. When senior UEFA officials met members of the Chelsea hierarchy afterwards, they were said to have been suitably embarrassed.[LNB]Had Drogba left it to Guus Hiddink to express Chelsea's disappointment on behalf of the club, the accusations would have been levelled at Ovrebo and E u r o p e a n football's governing body for appointing him for a game of this magnitude when his track record suggested he was alarmingly error-prone. [LNB] and Michael Ballack...[LNB]Rather than condemn English football for dominating the European game, Michel Platini might have actually had to apologise.[LNB]As it was, the focus was very much on Chelsea yesterday.[LNB]They once again stood accused of being the club that don't know how to lose, don't know how to control their players, don't understand what it means to respect the referee and don't respond to defeat with any kind of dignity.[LNB]Hiddink gave a dignified response to the questions he was asked during the postmatch press conference but even then he was criticised for refusing to condemn Drogba's conduct. No matter that the cries of conspiracy would have been delivered in stereo had Mourinho still been in charge. [LNB]Hiddink was said to possess the same rancorous attitude when he declared a desire to 'protect' his player.[LNB]The conspiracy theories expressed in the immediate aftermath, in particular by Jose Bosingwa when he branded Ovrebo 'a thief ' before withdrawing comments made to Portuguese television, were both unfounded and ridiculous. [LNB]Not least because the same incompetent official had sent off Barcelona's Eric Abidal when the team he was allegedly helping had only 25 minutes to score an equaliser. Ovrebo might be useless but that one incident proved he is not dishonest.[LNB]By yesterday afternoon, such talk of conspiracy had taken Chelsea down an all-too familiar road. It led to talk of death threats, some of which were posted on unofficial Chelsea message boards, forcing Stamford Bridge officials to issue a statement condemning such excesses.[LNB]But it invited the obvious comparison with the controversy that surrounded a previous encounter with Barcelona, when Mourinho turned on Anders Frisk and death threats frightened the Swedish referee into taking early retirement.[LNB] while full-back Jose Bosingwa called him a thief[LNB]It was then that a UEFA official branded Chelsea an 'enemy of football' and then that Roman Abramovich started to feel uncomfortable with the image of the club created by his often petulant Portuguese manager.[LNB]It is no coincidence that the players who served under Mourinho responded most aggressively to Ovrebo, because those players still buy into the Special One's philosophy so much that they have told Abramovich they would have him back as Hiddink's replacement.[LNB]Now those same players must brace themselves for what could be long bans, even if certain UEFA officials admitted yesterday that the extreme circumstances of the match could be taken into account when they consider the individual cases of the players concerned, as well as the club as a whole.[LNB]But the sport will demand that meaningful action is taken, that such behaviour should not be tolerated in this era of respect campaigns.[LNB]Last night Drogba issued an apology and Chelsea followed suit, while privately expressing frustration with a player who has tested their patience in the past. If Drogba had recovered some ground with his employers in recent months after his reaction to the departure of Mourinho and the disgrace of his red card in last year's Moscow final, he found himself back in the doghouse yesterday.[LNB]But he still had the support of team-mates who publicly spoke out in his defence and that, in itself, did not exactly endear them to the wider football community.[LNB]There will be changes to personnel at Chelsea but attitudes need to change as well, if not among the hierarchy then certainly in the dressing room.[LNB]On a night when the football world should have been with them, it was against them. Now Chelsea need to ask themselves why.[LNB] Get Drogba out of here: Chelsea owner Abramovich loses patience after striker's tantrumGRAHAM POLL WEBCHAT: Were Chelsea robbed? Does Darren Fletcher deserve to have his red card rescinded? UEFA confirm Drogba could be facing action - if ref makes official complaint[LNB] [LNB]
