Tinkering While Roman Fumes

‘“ANY old tinkerer can undermine a team’s performance…to detonate it as comprehensively as Ranieri did takes tinkering genius.”

‘Now, one at a time. Marcel, say sorry to Fernando…’

So say Giles Smith in the Times, a Chelsea fan who is none too happy with events in Monaco.

But in the spirit of fair play (and that does not include Claude Makelele and, perhaps, his fellow Chelsea player Marcel Desailly), the paper does list a few moments when the Tinkerman got it right.

So many players and changes are made in the list that to repeat them all here, let alone attempt to make any sense of them, would take an age.

And we, like Ranieri, do not have long. Better to turn to the Telegraph and see what his players now think of him.

You may remember how Chelsea’s stars stood behind their manager after their defeat of Arsenal. They would fight for him. Hey, they might even die for him.

Now, as the paper reports, one confided: “Claudio made a complete cock-up.” “What a dickhead!” came a text message from within the post-match dressing room.

“What the fuck was all that about?” asked another player after the game. “I bet Abramovich feels as shit as we feel,” says Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

But let’s turn away from such matters and look to the Telegraph and the snooker World Championships.

News from Sheffield is that ‘Rocket’ Ronnie O’Sullivan is back to something approaching the form that once made him the world’s best player.

But his 10-6 victory over Stephen Maguire did not pass without incident.

Besides his decision to play while wearing an Alice band on his head, O’Sullivan could find himself in hot water for making what the paper terms a “gesture with his finger” after missing a difficult pot.

Not that Ronnie is too upset.

“So what?” says he. “Frustration’s good. It shows how passionate I am about the game. I’m here to win the tournament. If they want to fine me, they can – I’ve got plenty of money, so I’ll pay.”

But O’Sullivan knows that his route to redemption in the eyes of the British public and its media is to do as Ranieri did and cry.

Then everyone will love him – for a few days at least…’

Posted: 22nd, April 2004 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink