Given baffled by boos for Bridge
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Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given says he fails to understand why Chelsea fans booed Wayne Bridge before Saturday's Stamford Bridge clash.
However much they want it to, it seems the stigma surrounding Terry and Bridge is not going to die down for a little while yet.
After the Premier League meeting between the Blues and City, Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Mancini attempted to draw a line under the whole saga.
Others are not quite so keen. Given bemoaned the reception Bridge received at his former club, while pundit Alan Shearer called for the full-back to reverse the decision to turn his back on England.
And Craig Bellamy ignited his own personal feud with Terry with a devastating broadside.
"Everybody in football knows what the guy is like. But that's off the field," declared Bellamy after his two-goal salvo in an extraordinary 4-2 win for City against the Premier League leaders.
Yet even the merest hint of criticism aimed at their hero seems to upset the Chelsea faithful.
After declaring there was no chance Terry would captain England again, Fabio Capello would presumably get jeered.
There can be no other explanation for Bridge - a former Chelsea player - being so mercilessly booed after the most famous handshake snub football has ever known.
"I don't know why the crowd reacted the way it did," said a bemused Given. "I don't see what he has done wrong."
It is a fairly poor state of affairs if an alleged dalliance between the mother of your son and a one-time close friend, followed by a personal decision to step down for World Cup duty to benefit England as a whole, results in jeers.
That is what happened, though. And now that it has, as a former England captain, Shearer hopes Bridge will reconsider.
"I fully understand why he does not want to be considered for next week's squad," said the former Three Lions skipper.
"I just hope in 10 years' time he doesn't regret not going to the World Cup.
"In time, the hurt might reduce and I think he should reconsider."
Once Wednesday's friendly with Egypt is out of the way, Capello is intent on persuading Bridge to do just that.
In the meantime, the Italian might take some time to lift the spirits of Terry, who, after initially responding with fortitude to the maelstrom that erupted around him, has now suffered a major dip in form.
Ancelotti absolved Terry from any blame for Saturday's debacle, although, as he did the same for goalkeeper Hilario, that is not necessarily an accurate reflection of events.
At best, the defender's performances are lacking conviction, which, given leading from the front is such an integral part of his game, is a fairly significant drawback.
If that was Ancelotti's only problem, he could get away with emerging from a game in which his side surrendered an early lead, a 37-match unbeaten home record and two of their players to red cards, by citing Chelsea's single-point advantage over Manchester United as reason enough to be cheerful.
But there are a few others, which go far beyond the fact Arsenal, now only one win adrift, have a significantly easier run-in to negotiate.
"We have to maintain trust in our quality," said Ancelotti.
"We knew how important this match was but we didn't play well. We have to avoid these kind of mistakes in the future."
As one of the mistakes involved Michael Ballack - who had already been booked - crashing straight into the back of Carlos Tevez, a lack of discipline can be claimed.
Ballack and Juliano Belletti will now not figure in Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final against Stoke.
Hilario presumably will, making the next four weeks as Petr Cech recovers from a calf problem a time for trepidation.
"I do not want to criticise Hilario," said Ancelotti, knowing the Portugal keeper is bound to be singled out for City's first two goals, which changed the course of a game that for 40 minutes looked certain to end in a home victory.
The form of Joe Cole continues to cause concern, too, in addition to that of John Obi Mikel.
Meanwhile, United and Arsenal are rapping at the door, demanding to be let in.
"It is more difficult than it was but we are still one point in front. We have to remember that," added Ancelotti.
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People seem to support the wrong thing these days. They should be booing JT! Cheater!
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Originally posted by sand king:
People seem to support the wrong thing these days. They should be booing JT! Cheater!
exactly.
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They should be booing a lot of things...
.......Rooney & whole manU team who can't get a goal w/o Refs help.
....England whose FA is stupid enough to bow to public pressure to remove the finest Captain ever.
.... Man City for kelong games wif Refs help....
..... etc
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finest captain ever
u got to be joking. -
Originally posted by sand king:
People seem to support the wrong thing these days. They should be booing JT! Cheater!
home support ma, cant blame the home fans though. they are bias, just like someone is here.
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ancelotti is not so good. he started with four 'strikers': drogba, anelka, malouda and cole. yet the way they played in first half was non aggressive and moderate paced.
then his subs were all lousy and actually made it worse. mikel was lousy, but sub in belleti was the kiss of death. sturiddge also had zero impact. dribble too much till dead end then lose ball. kalou is forever cmi.
chelsea need to get one more decent striker. besides drog and anel, the rest are inconsistent (malouda, cole) or poor/inexperienced (kalou, sturridge)
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Originally posted by Rooney9:
finest captain ever
u got to be joking.don't feed the trolls... pls...
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football can do the most stupid thing.
did anyone notice one of the fans called bridge a farking prick.
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I was disgusted when the banner showing "Team Terry" is displayed.
If he's so great then he should be a man, own up his mistakes, not pay Vanessa Perroncel to keep her mouth shut and apologise to Bridge.
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committing adultery is bad enough. why did he have to do it with his friend's partner.
thats the ultimate betrayal!!!
terry sucks!!!
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He probably got a kick out of it screwing Bridge's gf/wife behind his back... In a interview he gave, the reporter asked him what he thought was the funniest prank he ever pull on his team-mate, and he replied... There are a few but I can't tell you with a smile on his face... what a dickhead.
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english fans are brainless bunch of fools lah.
wait till they experience they gf kena screw by their own best friends then they realise, some kind of mistake, cannot be forgiven.
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the fans should boo ryan shawcross for breaking poor aaron ramsey's leg...
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It was a split second incident which was a very unfortunate accident... It wasn't calculated, therefore it's totally different.
Unlike Terry's. Going to Bridge's home over a period of time when he knew he wasn't in on the pretence of comforting his gf/wife when all he actually wanted was to get into her pants... This is just so despicable, how could he even thought of doing that to his so called best friend is beyond me... it was calculated... How sick can he be?
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chelsea fans boo bridge because they want to show terry they support him.
look at beckham's red card against argentina... he got booed all over england but loved by all in old trafford.
Both are cases where the fans are just trying to support their own club and players.
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One is a sporting decision, while the other is a moral issue at hand... Shouldn't compare totally different things... If I was a Chelsea fan I wouldn't boo Bridge either cos he did serve the club well during his time there... and he is the victim here rather than the culprit... He didn't do or asked to be put in this position. If they want to show their support for Terry (for whatever reasons) the very least just keep quiet.
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shit this john terry, the world condemns him yet he's vindicated by the club and their fans. Fed his ego and perhaps thats why he still cannot say sorry to bridge till today. He needs a roy keane in the club line up to put him in his place. Better still, suffer the same fate as alf-inge haaland :P
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JT need help. its best for him to seek help for his sex addiction, like tiger woods. sometimes its not about the sex, but the thrill of it, like going behind your mate's back to commit an adultery and getting away with it.