Assistant coach Ray Wilkins has labelled a
minority of Chelsea fans "out of order" after they hurled abuse at
boss Luiz Felipe Scolari. Chelsea have now dropped 16 points at
home this season and they slipped to fourth place in the Premier
League after their goalless draw against hard-working
Hull.
But Scolari was the target for the Chelsea boo-boys when he
replaced on-loan Ricardo Quaresma with Didier Drogba in the second
half. A section of the home support chanted 'You don't know what
you're doing' at the Brazilian coach and then booed the team off at
the final whistle.
But Wilkins declared: "I think it is a minority that would be
chanting it. That would kick it off and then people would get on
the back of that. "That is their prerogative because they pay their
money. People do pay a lot of money to watch football and if they
want to boo then by all means come and boo. "But to say someone
does not know what he is doing when he has achieved what he has in
the game, is a tad out of order.
"It is never very pleasant whatever ground you are at. He
clearly does know what he is doing. He has been in the game a hell
of a long time and won a lot of trophies as well. So, from that
aspect it is quite disappointing.
"The substitutions are always to try and improve things on the
pitch, so that is why we did it." The only saving grace for
Scolari, according to Wilkins, is that he probably would not have
understood what the Chelsea fans were chanting.
And the former England midfielder insists he has no plans to
inform the Brazilian. "When crowds are chanting I don't think
managers from foreign countries understand what is being said,"
added Wilkins. "He would not have understood that. I certainly
won't tell him because it is unnecessary. I don't think it should
be heard around our stadium."
Chelsea's poor home form is almost certain to cost them the
title this season but Wilkins is adamant they will not give up the
fight until it is mathematically beyond them. "Every game is
vitally important for us now," admitted Wilkins. "Hopefully we will
turn the corner. You cannot give up on the title when you see the
talent that we've got within the club.
"We will keep plugging away until it is mathematically
impossible to catch anybody. "It is going to be difficult to catch
Manchester United but we will try. They have a game in hand on us
and are still a good few points in front, so it is going to be
tough for everybody to catch them. But we are going to give it a
damn good go.
"Second at any time is not good enough for Chelsea. We strive to
be number one but second is never good enough for a club as big as
ours. "There seems to be a little bit of anxiety among the lads
when the goal doesn't come early on. We had a chance early on with
John Terry but unfortunately he didn't put it in.
"Had that gone in, I'm sure it would have settled the boys down
and we may have gone on and won quite comfortably. "There is no
real emergency. We are naturally disappointed we have not picked up
three points. We've huffed and puffed and created a lot of chances
but not been able to put the ball into the back of the net."
Hull are without a win in nine league games but boss
Phil Brown was proud of his team's work ethic and
insisted they might even have won the game with better finishing.
"We could have nicked it," said Brown. "It was a game plan designed
on hard work and riding our luck in front of both goals. "We did
that in the first minute when John Terry put one over the bar from
a yard. Slowly but surely in the second-half the tide turned.
"We played decent counter-attacking football and the best
chances fell to us. "But I am delighted with the clean sheet and
the work ethic was astounding and phenomenal. I am proud as a
manager to say we've come here and tried to take them on. "Every
individual deserves credit. We could have gone on and won it but I
am pleased with the point."
