Chelsea Are Coining It
‘IT is not as if Chelsea are short of a bob or two without West Ham fans donating their small change to help Roman Abramovich build his empire.
| West Ham are still worth a few old coppers |
Nor are Premiership footballers so hard up that they need visiting fans to chuck coins at them.
But Hammers fans have not quite grasped the economics of the modern game, as they demonstrated at Stamford Bridge last night.
What is more, although their generosity was appreciated by home fans, who reciprocated by reimbursing them with a volley of coins of their own, the players were not so grateful.
The Mirror says Mateja Kezman, the man whose first goal for Chelsea settled the Carling Cup tie between the clubs, came within half an inch of potentially losing his eye.
Even if the coin that struck him was a gold doubloon, we doubt it would have been adequate compensation for that partial loss of sight.
And that is why the papers are queuing up this morning to condemn the fans who brought shame on the game for the second time in 24 hours.
The Sun says similar donations to West Ham old boys – cash to Frank Lampard, a bottle to Joe Cole were similarly unappreciated.
Another West Ham old boy Jermain Defoe scored twice to give Spurs a 4-3 victory at Bolton in a match that was marred by the collapse of home midfielder Khalilou Fadiga in the warm-up.
The Express has pictures of the Senegalese international prostrate on the ground in scenes horribly reminiscent of the night when Marc-Vivien Foe collapsed and died while playing for Cameroon.
Thankfully Fadiga, who has a history of heart trouble, recovered and was taken to hospital for tests.
If football has a history of violence on and off the pitch, golf is a far more genteel sport.
At least, it is when Seve Ballesteros isnt involved. The Mail says the fiery Spaniard is facing a ban from the European Tour after an alleged assault on a tournament official.
The incident involving Jose Maria Zamora, with whom Ballesteros has clashed in the past, is alleged to have taken place during last months Spanish Amateur Championship.
But the Mail says, if found guilty, there are no precedents on which to base an estimate of the severity of any punishment because this is the first assault charge in the Tours 33-year history.
The only player ever to be thrown off the Tour was David Robertson for failing to pay a huge fine levied on him for cheating.
But in this case a lesser punishment might suffice like not being able to wear Pringle for a year…’
Posted: 28th, October 2004 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
