ECHOES OF ALFRETON, DARRELL?
THERE was a moment at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night when you could forgive Darrell Clarke’s mind from wandering. Not to the future and not to what it would be like to work in front of 40,000 people like this every week.
But back to Alfreton Town, a dire 0-0 draw in front of a few hundred on a cold November night in the Conference.
Antonio Conte, the suave Chelsea manager, was sweltering in a trendy suit probably worth more than the contents of two monthly pay packets for the Bristol Rovers’ boss.
Approaching the hour mark, there was some movement to the left of Clarke, dressed like he does most mornings when he takes training.
The Italian had seen enough. With the flick of a finger, Conte ordered Diego Costa, Oscar, Eden Hazard and John Terry to prepare themselves. The Blues were in a big hole.
Chelsea expected to be giving their younger players some game time. They didn’t predict the fight of their lives from the League One club.
Oscar, Hazard and Terry were summoned. The situation, the new manager said, had turned “dangerous”.
Clarke had Conte right where he wanted him. Fall just short they ultimately did, losing 3-2, but it was a night for remembering, a night for nearly 5,000 to savour.
Just 18 months ago, some of those supporters were trying to board the team bus as Rovers drew meekly at Alfreton. Furious, they wanted answers. Angry, Clarke – fearing for his job – lashed out at the negativity. He’s probably not had to raise his voice since.
“It’s a compliment to us,” he said after forcing Conte to act with his million pound men.
“It was great that we made Chelsea bring on a few of their even bigger hitters. We could have maybe sneaked an equaliser in the second half.
“We’ve come forward as a club very quickly. There were times in Non-League where we ever wondered if we were going to get out, but we stuck together and worked at it.”
At 2-0, it looked all over, but when Peter Hartley halved the Chelsea lead, there was hope. Undone again just before the break when Michy Batshuayi (pictured right), the Blues’ £33m man, scored his second, it should have sucked the life out of them.
Then, Stuart Sinclair, playing in the Southern League Central for Arlesey five years ago, decided to teach Cesc Fabregas a footballing lesson. Rovers had Chelsea on the ropes and bearded battler Sinclair was causing a stir, drifting through the midfield, bypassing the defence until he was eventually clattered by former Barcelona man Pedro.
Ellis Harrison slotted home the penalty and desperate Chelsea had to call for reinforcements. “Some 90 per cent of my squad were playing Non-League football a year-and-a-half ago,” Clarke added. “We haven’t made many changes over the years and the group is ever improving. We’ve kept with the core and kept with what made us successful – and we’ve taken a very strong Chelsea side incredibly close. “I’ve stayed loyal with a lot of my players and they’ve deserved that loyalty. But we’ve got to keep going, we’ve got to keep the club moving forward – we’re working hard to build a proper infrastructure at the club by buying a new training ground and carry on working on a new stadium “In the future, hopefully, these big games can be a regular thing.”