Better late than never, our own Chelsea man Tenner has responded to Slakr‘s seemingly endless assault on his beloved Blues:
As a Liverpool fan, Slakr can be forgiven for his somewhat bitter view on football as of late. But his anger leads me to a concept I’ve recently discovered – the ‘plastic rival’ (see: plastic fans).
The idea originates from a superb article by Spike Online’s Duleep Allirajah – a self-proclaimed Chelsea hater, mind you – but one who expresses disapparoval at others who hate us for all the wrong reasons. He rightfully points out that rival fans’ views on Chelsea have swung wildly since Abramovich took over two seasons ago. Under Ranieri, we were seen as a novelty item – buying the world but somehow struggling to put it altogether into consistent performances, and ending the season without a trophy. The consensus was that it was only a matter of time before Abramovich became tired of his new toy and the club went the way of Leeds. However, under Mourinho we’ve gone from strength to strength and our success, and the nature of it, has seen us quickly replace Manchester United as the team everyone loves to hate.
It is these new Chelsea-haters that I have no patience for. Wrought with envy, they have blinkered views on the Abramovich era and cling for dear life to claims of ‘history’ to rationalize their preference for their own club, screaming “I’d never want us to buy success like that” – yeah right.
If our success sees a rise in plastic fans, then these ‘plastic rivals’ are surely just as bad. Bitter, jealous, and thoroughly limited in their reasons. Just like the plastic fan has no right in supporting a club, the plastic rival hasn’t a foot to stand on in criticizing it.