sunday papers charlton

Observer:
Chelsea first for Makelele as champions celebrate
Kevin Mitchell at Stamford BridgeSunday May 8, 2005The Observer
There are few sights more evocative of innocent celebration than football fans thronging through the streets on their way to the ground of their choice to welcome home the new champions. And, whatever your allegiance, it was a heartening scene along the Fulham Road yesterday, girls in golden shoes lingering outside the fancy boutiques and youths bearing unfurled blue flags, cans of Special Brew and fixed grins on their way to the Chelsea Megastore to bolster the coffers of their favourite Russian landlord. Romance unconfined. Inside Stamford Bridge, the party continued on the pitch. John Terry, Chelsea's once-scowling general - now a responsible adult capable of breaking up nightclub fights rather than starting them - flicked aside a blue balloon to clear calmly. Joe Cole, rehabilitated in pure footballing terms by a 'Special One', paused to acknowledge the fans before slipping a deft pass to William Gallas, surely one of the best makeweights in the game, albeit lamentably one-footed. And there on the touchline as ever was José Mourinho, self-consciously wrapped up in his designer coat (soon to be auctioned for charity) on a pleasant May day. Where would Chelsea have finished without him and his blessed coat?
The manager and the congregation rose as one when Eidur Gudjohnsen's blond head just failed to nod a corner past the Charlton goalkeeper Stephan Andersen in the 10th minute. It would set the pattern for near misses that littered a game curiously lacking passion or urgency.
In the first half, at least, the qualities that separated Chelsea from the pack this season were on show: the synchronised fluidity of the midfield, Frank Lampard guiding the traffic, although he might have done better with a free header in the 21st minute; Cole tormenting on the left, Gudjohnsen on the right and, without fuss, the estimable Claude Makelele guarding the backdoor in front of Terry and Ricardo Carvalho, Chelsea's resident bouncers.
Foils rather than opponents, Charlton provided a sad counterpoint. Alan Curbishley could do little in recent weeks but concede the obvious: his players are performing like inattentive schoolboys. Thrashed by Manchester United, they ought to have come to Stamford Bridge in search of redemption but were rarely in the contest.
When Jonathan Fortune latched a lazy right boot on to a glorious opportunity 10 yards out to send the ball sailing into the stands on the half hour, there was barely a ripple of dismay among the travelling support. It looked all too familiar.
Only Matt Holland and Danny Murphy were wholly comfortable in this company. How Murphy, one of the Premier League's cleverest footballers, must be missing the boys at Anfield.
In the 35th minute, Cole laced a curling shot from outside the box that beat everything but the post.
Bryan Hughes found himself in space at the other end, turned and shot, but Carlo Cudicini, on sun-bathing duties in goal before giving Lenny Pidgeley a turn later on, had to do little more than yawn as the ball glided harmlessly by.
Charlton were unable to hold the ball for more than a few passes and, when it returned to its rightful owners, Gudjohnsen stretched his long frame to get in an airborne shot that cleared the bar by inches.
The visitors might have grabbed the lead five minutes before the break when Holland set up Fortune, but, again, he sprayed it.
Andersen did brilliantly moments later, clawing at Cole's feet and Gudjohnsen's as he kept Chelsea at bay with more conviction than the defenders in front of him.
The game, a torpid stroll in the main, needed a goal to rouse the faithful but merely ambled on in the sunshine. Terry's header ran along the top of the net 12 minutes into the second half and Carvalho had a nosebleed. Luke Young cleared Lampard's delightful lob off the line. Cudicini tipped Murphy's shot away. It rained briefly. José took his coat off.
Thankfully, Chelsea don't Mexican wave; when the action is as poor as this, they just throw celery. And so it flew in the second half - a celery-bration, if you like.
In the last minute, Lampard went over outside the area without much assistance from Fortune's tackle, but the penalty was given and Makelele converted after Andersen had blocked his first effort, his first goal for the club.
Afterwards, the 1955 title winners were paraded, but not named - a clumsy oversight. The club masseur got a name check, though, and all 101 members of the playing and back-room staff were listed in Mourinho's programme notes, a nice touch. Roy Bentley, the skipper 50 years ago and looking sprightly still, beamed as he held the cup aloft in front of the faithful. There was that warm glow about the occasion, the sort of feeling that makes the whole melodrama of football worthwhile, a day when Abramovich and his mystery millions count for very little at all. It is good to have a bit of metropolitan swagger back at the top of the domestic game.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Ricardo Carvalho
On a day lacking in urgency, Carvalho at least looked interested. He was as sound as a bell in Chelsea's idiosyncratic back four, an outfit that at times seems neither fish nor fowl. He distributed intelligently and when the opportunity arose moved deftly into space to create chances for Joe Cole and Eidur Gudjohnsen.
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Times:
Chelsea 1 Charlton 0: Makelele lifts Chelsea's title partyBrian Glanville at Stamford Bridge IT SHOULD have gone out with a bang, but it went with something of a whimper. Chelsea’s triumphant season, that is to say, champions of England again after a hiatus of 50 years. Yesterday, against modest Charlton, all too well-known for their end-of-season malaise, the new champions could win only after a last-minute penalty which should not have been given at all. Frank Lampard, the football writers’ player of the year, was unquestionably toppled by Jonathan Fortune outside the box, and Claude Makelele’s penalty was parried by Stephan Andersen, before the midfielder shot home the rebound for his first goal for the club in 94 appearances.
What really overshadowed the occasion, celebrated after the game in ecstatic style, was Chelsea’s elimination from the Champions League by Liverpool. It probably would not have happened had Chelsea in both those ties been virtually without their gifted wingers, Damien Duff, who missed both games, and Arjen Robben, who could make only token appearances on each occasion.
Liverpool themselves would surely find a crucial need for a winger, ideally Harry Kewell, when they meet AC Milan in the final in Istanbul. Last Wednesday, PSV drove Milan’s defence to distraction on the flanks in Eindhoven.
Chelsea’s controversial manager, Jose Mourinho, tactlessly asserted at Anfield that “the linesman scored”, much to the fury of Uefa, whose favourite person he wasn’t in the first place. Mourinho might have considered the fact that had the goal not been given, the referee could well have awarded a penalty and sent off his goalkeeper, Petr Cech.
There is no doubt that Chelsea deserve this Championship, but what are the portents for English football? Given Roman Abramovich’s billions, and the £200m-plus lavished on transfer fees, is there any club in the country capable of keeping up with Chelsea? Still, as we know, money isn’t everything, it cannot protect you from the curse of injury.
Not that Mourinho’s tactics at Liverpool were impeccable. Why, in the final throes, did he bring on a centre-back, in Robert Huth, to play up front when he had Mikael Forssell on the bench? Yesterday, Eidur Gudjohnsen, that accomplished opportunist, at least was used up front, where he can surely do more damage, rather than behind the lone striker as at Anfield. The problem being that even against such opposition as Charlton, he was on his own until Forssell finally came on after 66 minutes.
Lampard, after a fine season which deservedly had him named as Footballer of the Year, enjoyed a somewhat muted afternoon. But Joe Cole was in effervescent form. So long under-valued and under-used both by club and country, he revelled yesterday in his free role, ever ready for a crack at goal and indeed in the first-half forcing the save of the game. This when, after an exchange with Gudjohnsen, he let fly a right-footed drive which Andersen turned one-handed onto the right-hand post.
Earlier on, coming in from the right, Cole had had by way of variety his left-footed shot blocked by Andersen. Charlton, though, with only Kevin Lisbie upfield, had their sporadic moments. One came as early as the ninth minute when Danny Murphy sent Bryan Hughes scampering past Carlo Cudicini, only for John Terry to hook the ball off the line. In the closing minutes of the first period, there was a flurry of activity. Gudjohnsen volleyed over a cross by Geremi. Five minutes later, when Murphy returned the ball from a right-wing corner, Fortune’s shot flew narrowly wide. Then, in one his few illuminated moments, Tiago sent Cole through, Andersen blocked his shot, and Gudjohnsen’s follow-up was stopped by Fortune in the goalmouth.
Eight minutes into the second half, a high cross from the right by Glen Johnson was headed against the top of the right-hand upright by Terry. Eleven minutes later, Lampard lobbed the keeper, but Luke Young cleared from under the bar. Charlton promptly counter-attacked when Ricardo Carvalho was stranded by a rebound. Away went Lisbie, finding Holland, whose shot was capably turned behind by Cudicini. Chelsea brought on Forssell and Jiri Jarosik, Geremi dropping to his more familiar role at right-back, and the home side continued to call the tune.
Lampard finished a run with a ball to Cole on his left, and Cole’s shot went narrowly past the right-hand post. Close to the end, Chelsea took off Cudicini, replacing him with their young third-choice keeper, Lenny Pidgeley, who acquitted himself well when he blocked in the goalmouth after Murphy’s right-wing corner.
Mourinho said afterwards: “I was writing diagrams for if there was a penalty in the last minute and we were 2-0 up, then Claude Makelele would take it. But he took it, it was a miracle.
“I told the players at half-time that we were not playing badly, we were playing the ball well, but without ambition.”
He added: “I’m happy, I’m tired and I’d like to go for a holiday. I’m proud for myself, the players and the fans. Maybe we did it before everybody expected, even inside the club. I know a lot of people didn’t believe in our first season. But my nature is not to be happy with what we do; we want more. This is the beginning of a process.
“It is my first season, but we want more. Our next season is another season. On the pitch I had my staff together. I was saying to them: enjoy today, because tomorrow is another day. “For me, after we beat Tottenham at White Hart Lane and Arsenal lost at Bolton was the day when we believed (they would win the League) for the first time.”
STAR MAN: Stephan Andersen (Charlton)
Player ratings. Chelsea: Cudicini 6 (Pidgeley 81min,6), Johnson 6 (Jarosik 66min,6), Terry 7, Carvalho 7, Gallas, Geremi 6, Makelele 6, Cole 7, Lampard 6, Tiago (Forssell 66min,6), Gudjohnsen 7
Charlton: Andersen 8, Young 6, El Karkouri 7, Fortune 7, Konchesky 6, Kishishev 6, Holland 6, Murphy 6, Hughes 6, Johansson 6, Lisbie 6
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NOTW:Unsung Claude the hero as party starts
Big Mak, large prize
From Rob Beasley at Stamford Bridge
IT was not a penalty but who, outside the shadow of the Millennium Dome, really cares?
And how fitting that it was unsung hero Claude Makelele who struck the last-gasp winner as Chelsea celebrated winning the title for the first time in 50 years.
The Frenchman has been a rock for Jose Mourinho and his side this season and his dedication to his midfield holding role means he doesn't get forward too often.
His team-mates even joke that he doesn't even come close to scoring in training.
In fact, in penalty practice on Friday, he missed two out of two!
But that didn't stop the whole Chelsea side ushering him forward to the spot after Jonathan Fortune was judged — wrongly as it turned out — to have tripped Frank Lampard in the box.
Bounce
Charlton keeper Stephan Andersen did his best to right the wrong by diving to his right to save Makelele's first attempt.
But the 32-year-old would not be denied his first goal in two seasons and 94 games at the club. He was first to the loose ball — but even then he miskicked it and had to rely on a lucky bounce.
Makelele was promptly buried under an avalanche of team-mates, a testimony to both his talent and popularity.
Charlton just had time to kick off again before ref Mike Riley blew the whistle to allow Chelsea's celebrations to begin. But Chelsea head coach Jose Mourinho insisted his side had disobeyed his strict orders.
Mourinho said: "I said if there's a penalty — Frank Lampard. If there's a penalty in minute 90 with us leading 2-0, then Makelele.
"And when the penalty came in the last minute I think everyone thought ‘What do we do?' It was the last minute but we were not up 2-0.
"And Makelele had missed two out of two in training. Yes two out of two."
But Makelele finally delivered his goal.
It was just as appropriate a moment as Lampard scoring the goals that sealed the title at Bolton last week.
The dynamic pair sum up how Chelsea have won the title at a canter this term. Lampard has been the creator and Makelele the destroyer. The Englishman has has grabbed the goals and made the chances.
Behind him, his French team-mate has provided the determination and energy.
To be fair, on any other day there might have been a raging debate over Riley's decision to point to the spot.
Fortune's challenge was clearly outside the area.
Charlton boss Alan Curbishley probably would have had something to say afterwards but when he went into the Press Room to give his thoughts, he found it empty. The reporters were still in the stands watching Chelsea pick up the trophy and parade it around the ground.
Curbs turned on his heels and marched off — no doubt muttering under his breath.
But the Valley boss could not really complain. Chelsea were by far the better team, even if they did lack urgency. Lampard's shot flashed past the angle midway through the first-half and Cole was twice denied by Andersen.
Earlier, the visiting keeper had touched a curling Joe Cole effort onto the bar.
Carlo Cudicini had to show his brilliance in the 64th minute to prevent a goal from Matt Holland.
The Italian has had to stomach being second fiddle to Petr Cech at the Bridge this season but he showed he is still one of the best around with a flying save.
Salute
And there was a lovely touch from Mourinho as he subbed Cudicini nine minutes from time.
The whole of the ground stood to salute the Italian in what will surely be his last match at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea.
Last season he was deemed the best in the league, now he has been reduced to a bit-part player.
But that's today's Chelsea. The players are assured of a treasured place in the club's history but little else.
Roman Abramovich's money and the Mourinho's ambition mean that Cudicini will not be the last through the exit door.
The Blues aren't just celebrating a first title in 50 years. They believe they are celebrating the start of a footballing dynasty that will rule English and European soccer for years to come.
And who can argue? Who can stop them?
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Independent:
Week of the goal that wasn't and the penalty that wasn'tChelsea 1 - Charlton Athletic 0By Nick Townsend at Stamford Bridge08 May 2005
Fifty years ago, Chelsea's achievement was received by their players with a restraint appropriate for the times. The manager, Ted Drake, had to request his captain, Roy Bentley, to bring his team up from the dressing room to accept their fans' plaudits. "The crowd wants to see the team, Roy," Drake had quietly informed him.
Yesterday, here, after a somewhat fortuitous defeat of Charlton, everyone demanded to be a part of it. You could not have kept anyone with Chelsea heritage, young or old, away from a pitch festooned with streamers, as that elusive championship trophy returned to be held aloft by the Players' Player of the Year, John Terry. Not least Drake's 2005 counterpart, Jose Mourinho, whose son Zuca and daughter Matilde, escaped their mother, Tami, and rushed to him as he strode forward to receive his medal at the end of a lengthy queue of his players.
Yet he will be aware there is no more appropriate recipient of the trophy than Terry - the man who surely should have also secured the football writers' Footballer of the Year ahead of the award's winner, his team-mate Frank Lampard.
It is perhaps unfortunate that the man we honour on Thursday week, in tribute to a season in which the England man's goals, industry and sheer verve in midfield have contributed so greatly to Chelsea's title, should have ensured victory here by winning one of the most debatable penalties awarded all year.
The Blues' season has been punctuated with controversy, both on and off the pitch. Why should this final home game be any different? Lampard fell in the area in the final minute after a challenge by the visitors' Jonathan Fortune, but not only did there appear to be an absence of any contact, but any offence was committed outside the area. The referee, Mike Riley, was in benevolent mood, however.
Claude Makelele, a player who had hitherto never scored in 94 Chelsea games, hardly appeared the ideal man to take responsibility for the spot-kick. Indeed, he was not. The Danish goalkeeper Stephan Andersen made a fine save, but obligingly the ball ran to the defensive midfielder, who followed up and forced the ball home. It was as well he did. "I wrote on a diagram for my players yesterday: 'Penalty: Lampard'," Mourinho explained. "I told them 'If we have a penalty in the 90th minute, and it is two-zero to us: Claude Makelele'. What happens? It is zero-zero, and Makelele takes the penalty." He gestures mock irritation. "Makelele took two penalties in training yesterday, and missed them both..."
The visitors, rightly, did not appreciate the humour of the moment. At the final whistle, the Charlton assistant, Mervyn Day, strode out and appeared to inform Riley that he was a "cheat". The manager, Alan Curbishley, equally indignant, confined himself to a wag of his finger at the official. There was a suspicion that Riley had been swayed by the occasion, rather like, as Chelsea claimed, the Slovakian assistant had been influenced by the Kop at Anfield on Tuesday night. Surely not?
The result meansthe Blues are only a win away from overtaking Manchester United's Premiership points record of 92. They could achieve that at Old Trafford on Tuesday. That would be further evidence of Chelsea's supremacy this season.
Mourinho declared that the defining moment was his side's eclipse of Tottenham at White Hart Lane. "Arsenal lost at Bolton when we were still in the bath." A pause. "They played after us that day," he reminded us. "Like they do always."
Mourinho added: "We did it [claimed the title] maybe before everyone expected us to. Even some people inside the club didn't believe we could do it in my first season. Now we want more. This is the beginning of a process, not the end."
Uncannily, he almost echoed Ted Drake's observation of 50 years previously: "Now that we have won the championship, I don't think there is anything beyond our power." How erroneous he was.
One suspects that it will not be half a century before yesterday's scenes are repeated; certainly not if Roman Abramovich remains faithful to his aim of building "the most successful football club in the world in the next 10 years".
This was the day when the men of New Chelsea, a creation made possible by Abramovich's extravagant ambition, became not merely a significant part of the club's history but rejoiced with their predecessors. It was an emotional spectacle for many of those present as eight Chelsea Pensioners and 13 surviving members of that 1955 squad, led by Bentley, brought the Premiership trophy to the podium for Terry to raise in triumph.
Not to be outdone, the partners of the Chelsea players joined the festivities. It was hard to escape the feeling that they bore much similarity with their fictional TV equivalents. While their partners may have won the battle of midfield, it was difficult to say who won the competition for the most exposed midriff.
This was always going to be more a celebration than an examination of their opponents during this lunchtime confrontation. Joe Cole completed the home programme with a splendid exhibition, and struck a post in the first half. Terry repeated that act after the interval.
At the end, the faithful mocked their Champions' League conquerors. "Are you watching Liverpool?" they sang. Mourinho could not resist the observation: "I would say that they don't have in Istanbul the best final they could have."
Tuesday night's defeat clearly still rankles. But he knows in his mischievous heart that yesterday's presentations were confirmation of the one that really counts.
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Telegraph:
Makelele kicks off celebrationsBy Simon Hart (Filed: 08/05/2005)
In pictures: Premiership actionIn pics: How the title was won
Chelsea (0) 1 Charlton (0) 0
Before John Terry sent the blue streamers skywards at Stamford Bridge by hoisting the Barclays Premiership trophy above his head, another presentation underlined the significance of yesterday's occasion. A few minutes after the final whistle, 13 white-haired old men, the surviving members of the last Chelsea squad to scale the heights of English football, walked on to the pitch to receive the trophy they won in 1955, but which was never formally presented to them. "We're sorry it's taken 50 years," said the stadium announcer as Roy Bentley, the captain, was given it by Terry and Frank Lampard.
Swinging it: Chelsea's Joe Cole enjoys being top as scorer Claude Makalele celebrates
The presence of the Chelsea FC pensioners was a poignant reminder of the transience of success, though one suspects that Stamford Bridge will not have to wait quite so long for a repeat of yesterday's raucous celebrations. As Jose Mourinho said afterwards: "My nature is not to be happy but to want more. This is the beginning of a process; this is not the end. This is my first season and I have five more years on my contract. I am already thinking about next season."
Fortunately for Chelsea, Roman Abramovich is of the same opinion. Yesterday he broke his customary silence with a "thank you" message in the match programme, dedicating the title to the "long-term supporters who did not live to see Chelsea reach the pinnacle of English football once again", and setting out his ambition of "building the most successful football club in the world in the next 10 years and beyond". His message added: "I view this championship as just the beginning of a new era for Chelsea and would like to reiterate my long-term commitment to the club."
His words will be music to the ears of the fans who yesterday basked in the glory of his £300 million investment on a day of high spirits and not a trace of any lingering disappointment from last week's defeat at Anfield.
Even the pre-celebration warm-up, the small matter of Chelsea's last home game of the season against Charlton Athletic, supplied the perfect hors d'oeuvre for the post-match high-jinks, a 90th-minute penalty which Claude Makelele stabbed home on the rebound after seeing his spot-kick saved by Stephan Andersen.
It was the Frenchman's first goal for Chelsea in 94 appearances, a fitting reward for one of the unsung heroes of Chelsea's campaign, though Mourinho later admitted his players had gone against his pre-match instructions in allowing him to take the kick. Makelele, who had missed two penalties out of two in training on Friday, was only meant to take a penalty if Chelsea were already two goals ahead.
His winning goal brought the entire Chelsea bench on to the pitch for a celebratory pile-up of bodies, though Charlton, who had defended stoutly and deserved a point, were furious with referee Mike Riley and were already heading back to south London by the time the trophy presentation began. One had to sympathise. Not only did the penalty incident clearly take place outside the penalty box but Jonathan Fortune appeared to make no contact with Lampard as he went to ground.
Victory means Chelsea are still on course for three records and can claim the first of them at Old Trafford on Tuesday night when a win will take them past Manchester United's own Premiership water mark of 92 points in a season.
They have now also equalled United's record of 28 victories in a 38-game season and, having conceded just 13 goals, remain on course to beat Arsenal's record of 17 goals against, set in 1998-99.
But such esoteric statistics were a long way from the minds of the Chelsea faithful after the final whistle as first the backroom staff and then the players were introduced one by one, walking through a guard of honour formed by Chelsea Pensioners before taking their place on the victory podium. Nearby, their family members stood in a large group joining in the applause, the children wrapping themselves in streamers.
Unfortunately, the only hiccup was a malfunctioning sound system that reduced the stadium announcer's commentary to a series of stuttering beeps reminiscent of comedian Norman Collier. When it came to the Chelsea manager's arrival, his surname was completely lost, though the announcer did manage did spit out: "Jose". It was enough.
Mourinho received the biggest roar of all as he walked out of the tunnel, to be met by his two children, Matilde and Jose, who had broken free from their mother and rushed towards him. He hugged them and escorted them back to his wife, Tami, before returning to the podium. As Terry received the trophy and the players set off on their lap of honour, Mourinho could still be seen on the podium in a close huddle with his backroom team.
Asked later what he was saying to them, Mourinho replied: "I told them to enjoy the day because tomorrow is another day."
To their credit, the Charlton supporters remained in their seats to watch the scenes as the Chelsea players, including their own former hero Scott Parker, strutted around the pitch. The reality is that it could be a lot longer than 50 years before a club with Charlton's slender resources get the chance to celebrate their own title. In the short term, the future looks distinctly blue.
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