WDF NEWS: Fabrice Muamba — A Get Better Note

A relatively tame FA Cup match between Tottenham and Bolton became a nightmare right before half time. Close to the centre circle, three minutes before the whistle was to be blown, Fabrice Muamba collapsed. No tackle, no awkward step, Muamba just fell. The players immediately rushed to him and seconds later the on-field paramedics were there. Referee Howard Webb, after about eight minutes, called for the game to be abandoned. Muamba was found to have suffered a cardiac arrest (you're heart literally stops), and was officially dead for 78 minutes. He was rushed to a London hospital where the central midfielder miraculously awoke. We wish Muamba a speedy recovery and swift return to football (though doctors have made no indication that he will ever play again). Muamba's first words when he woke: "Did we lose?" Live a footballer, die a footballer. Almost.

WDF NEWS: Chelsea and Abramovich, A Match Made In… Somewhere

And here we go again. The search resumes. Honestly, it’s getting kinda boring! Roman, pick someone and bloody stick with him! He’s like the George Clooney of football, except Russian and ridiculously rich. Wait isn’t George… Never mind.  Where to start, I suppose at the beginning is a good place. J Roman Abramovich took over Chelsea in 2003, immediately funding huge commercial efforts to make The Blues a world-wide brand similar to Manchester United and Real Madrid. With great success in the first season, Abramovich hired the self-proclaimed “Special One” (Jose Mourinho) after he led Porto to a surprise Champions League win. Mourinho had great success and the rest is history. Now this is where it gets interesting... Having one of the best coaches around under his employment, Abramovich decided to hire Avram Grant to his board, as a Director of Football. This, accompanied with the purchase of Andriy Shevchenko (apparently against Mourinho’s discretion), was the beginning of the end for Chelsea. That’s a lie. They’re still a great club with a rich past and slightly promising future, but it was the end of any consistency they’d see for a long time. Abramovich was trying to control the way Mourinho coached his side, and let me tell you, as a coach, there is nothing more restraining than an owner trying to tell you how to do your job. So in September of 2007 Mourinho had enough and left the club. It’s not like he was the most successful manager in Chelsea history or anything, or that he had won six trophies in 3 years. No, that wasn’t enough for Abramovich; he needed more, and he’s yet to find it. So, with hiring and firing seven managers since the Special One left, none of which have come close to achieving what Mourinho did, Abramovich is probably wondering where it all went wrong. Fast track to 2012, Andre Villas Boas has just been sacked, Chelsea are a mess and have no three, two or even one year plan. Where now? Back to Mourinho? I doubt it. My spidey senses tell me that he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. No, the real problem is Ambramovich. He needs to sit down, shut-up and pay the bloody bills! Chelsea will sink to the sad depths of obscurity of he doesn’t. Hire David Moyes (Everton) and let him completely revamp the system there. Imagine what he could do with some actual money! What he has done, and is continuing to do at Everton is amazing. He has an eye for talent that could rival Sir Alex (see Wayne Rooney) and he’s made a team out of almost nothing. GOD! Just do it already! Or somebody just put some bloody faith in them! You cannot build a team at that level, or any other level for that matter, on one year. AVB said at the beginning that it would take three years, and he was right! It takes some time! My excessively opinionated and talented younger brother believes that Abramovich should just hire himself for the job of manager at Chelsea. It’s not a bad idea actually. When you think about it, at least they’d have some consistency.