A Special Season

The Chelsea Season
Chelsea finally gave their fans something to cheer about after missing out on the premier league for three years and narrowly missing the Champions League two seasons ago. The team looked like Champions from the beginning, but also stumbled annoyingly and at times looked likely to re-enact another “almost there” season. But in the end, victory over Man U and Liverpool in the final weeks proved decisive. And the sweetener was the FA Cup double! Didier Drogba, whose achievements the European sports fraternity continue to downplay, proved his class scoring a hat trick on the final day of the league, securing the highest goal tally over the season and scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup final. Our Mikel John Obi finally landed a Champions medal, after watching Man U, which he scorned in favour of Chelsea take it three times. Carla Ancellotti has brought Chelsea back on winning ways. Now to the Champions League!
The Special One
Jose Mourinho, our beloved ex-coach at Chelsea, taunted Chelsea a few weeks back, reminding us that after his exit from Stamford Bridge, the team had won….well something (the FA Cup) while he had continued to win leagues in Italy with Inter Milan. Chelsea have silenced him by winning the double, some thing he never did in England. But Mourinho has just upped the ante with a historic treble-the league, cup and Champions league wins by Inter Milan as they beat Bayern Munich last Saturday. Now it is difficult to dismiss Mourinho as a “translator” as Barcelona fans did, or anything other than someone who has a special way with winning. If Mourinho does go to Real Madrid, he would be seeking at least the Spanish Liga and Champions League titles and may become the greatest coach in club football.
Etoo, Ibrahimovic and Barcelona
Until last season, I supported two European teams-Chelsea and Barcelona (Can Sani Lulu, Taiwo Ogunjobi and Co please reform our league such that I could have a domestic team to support?). That was until Barcelona treated Samuel Etoo with contempt and disdain. In a year in which Barcelona won both in Spain and Europe, and in which Etoo was a critical part of that season (indeed scoring in the Champions League final), Barca sold off Etoo to Inter Milan in exchange for Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a deal that implicitly rated Ibrahimovic as far superior to Etoo. Etoo was valued at 20 million Euros and Ibra at 69million (in addition to Etoo, Barcelona paid 46 million Euros and an additional fee of 3 million!) Pep Guardiola strained to find sensible justification for that comparative valuation given the relative records and performances of both players. I stopped supporting Barcelona and switched to Real Madrid believing that only Etoo’s Africanness could have motivated Barca and Guardiola (the same reason I find it difficult to support Man U and Liverpool in England which appear to have no place for African players). Well this season, Inter beat Barcelona on the way to the Champions League and won the treble settling the issue of who is superior between Etoo and Ibra!
Cameron, Clegg and the Season of Coalition
Like many people all over the world, I followed the British elections very closely. I tend to be social democratic so I may have had a residual interest in a Labour victory, but I also recognised the reality that Britain appeared tired of the party after thirteen years of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Unfortunately Brown lacked Blair’s charisma and style and could not bring personal charm to bear on the poll outcome even though he was strongest on substance and policy. I also thought the platforms of the Conservatives and Liberal-Democrats were unreasonably ideologically driven (cut the deficit rapidly in spite of recession, anti-Europe) and romantic/unrealistic (amnesty for illegal immigrants, nuclear power) respectively and as the elections approached voters retreated from them reversing earlier gains by both parties. In a sense, Labour was the winner in that election-preventing a Tory majority (not to mention a landslide which once looked imminent) and the poll outcome suggests deep resilience of the Labour vote. Plus I think that the coalition forged by Cameron and Clegg would eventually hurt both of them-the Lib-Dems will have trouble in the medium term rationalising an alliance with a party whose basic instincts are diametrically opposed to theirs and the Conservatives may end up governing as Social Democrats or at best Centrists to retain Lib-Dem support. Meanwhile Labour will get an opportunity to step back, re-strategise, choose younger, more charismatic leaders and re-shape its platform. I bet a fresh and re-invigorated Labour party will be back sooner than later!
The Nigerian Style
Meanwhile we also have a ruling “coalition” in Aso Rock-President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice-President Namadi Sambo. They are both blessed with good luck and good health! The government should now begin to work towards transforming Nigeria for good!!! As for football, the portents are not so good. The FA and local league are mired in dispute and disorganisation. The national team is headed for the World Cup with the worst preparation of all the qualifiers. The coach named his list of thirty players without any direct interaction with them and met the team for the first time some days ago. Well good luck to us!