Dorset Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Here?s hoping that before too long somebody from the Gods at the Mestalla will have climbed down, recovered from their hangover, and reported in on last night?s game - what was it like to actually be there when Chelsea became the only British club to defeat Valencia in a European match - twice? Any first hand account has to be better than that offered by the daily newspapers over here, where even the award laden Martin Samuel opened with sniffy comments about how sometimes it doesn?t matter who the manager is, only to admit afterwards that a win is, still, not be sniffed at. Better news, however, for those of us watching on Sky (not a statement I had expected to make) where, after dodgy start on SS2 in the presence of the Three Stooges - Redknapp, Hoddle and Souness - I beat a hasty retreat to the aptly named SS Extra, and a remarkably good ship it turned out to be. Captained by the ultra professional Jeff Stelling and crewed by Ray Wilkins and the (usually boxing) commentator Ian Darke, the Chelsea fan, at long last, got a mixture of informed expertise from an ex-Blue, ably supported by someone adept at seamlessly bringing in his inter-round, or in this case inter-action, summary. Stelling?s halftime and full time discussions with Ray Wilkins were so much better than that provided by Keys and Gray at the weekends that you begin to wonder just how long it will be before this new pairing take over. Whenever it is, it wont be a moment too soon for me and I would gladly take last night?s three man crew for every Chelsea game on Sky for the rest of this season and more. Sadly, Stelling has already proved irreplaceable on his Saturday Sports Show and Ray seems a long way down the Sky expert analysis pecking order to make this happen, but here?s some evidence that might make the powers that be think long and hard about it? Valencia?s first goal got the hard bitten old Pro treatment from Wilkins, who bemoaned the luck element in the rebound off Essien, but did not gloss over Villa?s injection of pace to be first to the ball to score. Unfussy summation and good explanation to the viewer of the incident unfolding. Chelsea?s goal is described with genuine excitement by Darke, delivered with more than a hint of ?Hey, we?re back in this!? and it?s followed by Wilkins immediately pinpointing the key contributions of both Didier and Malouda. Neither spotted the fact that Joe got the last touch, but several replays later it was acknowledged, with up beat humour surrounding the fact that he was bound to have claimed it anyway. The winning goal received the adulation it deserved - the Cole pass hailed as possibly the pass of the season so far and the Drog?s clinical finish a fitting finale to his superb all round performance. The anticipated last ditch effort by Valencia came and went, so did Darke, and we were left with Stelling and Wilkins analysing where most things went right and surprisingly less went wrong in what can only be described as expert banter between two people who are very good at their jobs. Shame to say that at this point I reverted to SS2 for news of the Liverpool game and interrupted Richard Keys confirming what most of us knew already - the pundits sitting on stools in front of him were rubbish and none of them predicted the Marseilles victory. Having been shorn of the deadpan Souness for ninety minutes it was a bit of a cultural shock to revert back to his morose demeanour and the Anfield shocker had done nothing to improve it. Nevertheless, every cloud has a silver lining and, almost on cue, he found time to make a prat of himself by dragging our performance into his despondent discussion on the ?Pool. Describing Chelsea as a side that totally depended on Lampard and Drogba to win games, he cited our latest win as evidence, completely forgetting that Lamp?s is still out. Somewhat embarrassed, Keys tried to change the subject by reverting to a matter that required the expert knowledge of the three wise men in front of him - just what was that big bump on Carvalho?s head called? Any answer, ranging from bruise to Barry, might have come from these guys, so, rather than wait to be enlightened, I called it a night and went off to dream about our win and the possibility of last night?s Sky Sports Extra team covering all our fixtures, as well as becoming a permanent one itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Loved it when Wilkins said; "Well done Chels" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midlandblue Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Dorset, my viewing schedule was almost an exact mirror of yours. Started with the studio guests, all though at times I though I was watching an old episode of Top Of The Pops with all the clips of past games and managers accompanied by dated pop songs, in fact I'm sure I caught a climpse of Legs and Co. all though it may well have been Peter Crouch. One interesting thing that came from Glen Hoddle, was the fact that he was very close to signing Morientes and Etto before his then director of football, David Pleat, stepped in to put an end to any transfer. Thank you David Pleat. For the game itself the commentary was great, Butch occasionally letting his loyalties show, but the duo served up an informative and enjoyable performance. makes you wonder why John Motson is still working Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLUENUT Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 The thing is with Hoddle, he reckons he nearly signed everyone at some stage. I remember when he was at Wolves and their forward, young Scottish lad, scored playing in an international. Hoddle tried to take credit for it saying it's something he'd been working on in training with the lad. Forget the other 3/4 players involved in the move who didn't even play for Wolves hey Glenn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliott Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Loved Wilkins on SS Extra. You could tell that he still has alot of feelings for us, and is a true fan, like any other. Made me chuckle when he referred to Drog's as 'The Big Stuff' TM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chippy Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Dorset my finger hit the remote at the same sort of time aswell and you are spot on with what you have said. one more thing about morose mr Souness, did you notice he said if Drogba had have played against Fulham Chelsea would have won that match? perhaps he thinks we started with ten men eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midlandblue Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 He's as good a pundit as he was a manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLUENUT Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Dorset my finger hit the remote at the same sort of time aswell and you are spot on with what you have said.one more thing about morose mr Souness, did you notice he said if Drogba had have played against Fulham Chelsea would have won that match? perhaps he thinks we started with ten men eh? We do when Sheva starts! See Sheva starts and how many goals we've scored in those games. it's taken a few games but even Avram can see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chippy Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Dorset my finger hit the remote at the same sort of time aswell and you are spot on with what you have said.one more thing about morose mr Souness, did you notice he said if Drogba had have played against Fulham Chelsea would have won that match? perhaps he thinks we started with ten men eh? We do when Sheva starts! See Sheva starts and how many goals we've scored in those games. it's taken a few games but even Avram can see it. to be fair Grant never had a lot of choice but to play Sheva with Drogs injured, Pizza has not exactly been prolific, and Kalou can miss a chance or two Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLUENUT Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 and Kalou can miss a chance or two I'm sure theres a song in that somewhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgeboy Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Loved it when Wilkins said; "Well done Chels" Yes yes that was classic, RW is a legend love him to bits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonetti Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Dorset my finger hit the remote at the same sort of time aswell and you are spot on with what you have said.one more thing about morose mr Souness, did you notice he said if Drogba had have played against Fulham Chelsea would have won that match? perhaps he thinks we started with ten men eh? We do when Sheva starts! See Sheva starts and how many goals we've scored in those games. it's taken a few games but even Avram can see it. to be fair Grant never had a lot of choice but to play Sheva with Drogs injured, Pizza has not exactly been prolific, and Kalou can miss a chance or two Playing Nevva Evva is like getting a red card at Kick Off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonetti Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Did you notice that the 'extra' included vid montages while there was a break in play - one they kept showing was RA getting excited when we nearly scored. He seemed to twitch his elbow up and down really quickly - bit like doing the funky chicken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev123 Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Did you notice that the 'extra' included vid montages while there was a break in play - one they kept showing was RA getting excited when we nearly scored. He seemed to twitch his elbow up and down really quickly - bit like doing the funky chicken Ha Ha, I missed that, anyone comes across some clips please post em up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Did you notice that the 'extra' included vid montages while there was a break in play - one they kept showing was RA getting excited when we nearly scored. He seemed to twitch his elbow up and down really quickly - bit like doing the funky chicken Yeah and say what you will about Roman, he really gets into the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonetti Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Did you notice that the 'extra' included vid montages while there was a break in play - one they kept showing was RA getting excited when we nearly scored. He seemed to twitch his elbow up and down really quickly - bit like doing the funky chicken Yeah and say what you will about Roman, he really gets into the game. No criticism intended - just funny to watch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superdan Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 I thought the inbetween discussions and chats were great but I found listening to Wilkins a bit like listening to Big Blue Radio (in the past). He is so pro-Chelsea and so positive I don't feel like I'm getting the whole picture. As a Chelsea fan I think every decision should go our way (but I know I'm a bit optimistic) when the commentator always agree with me it becomes a bit boring! It's better than the other way round though with all the Chelsea bashing - and when they talked of the subdued atmosphere of Anfield later on (rather than the superb Champions league atmosphere) I cracked a large smile! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gem Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Wilkins and Stelling really put Gray and Tyler to shame, enjoyed the game even more last night with them in the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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