EPISODE 3 : BACK TO THE FUTURE : REVISIT CHELSEA SEASON 1997/98 ( PINNACLE OF SUCCESS PRE ROMAN )
SYNOPSIS OF THE YEAR 1997/98
ABOUT CHELSEA HISTORY
the 1997/98 season
( THE PINNACLE OF GLORY PRE ROMAN )
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manager : Ruud Gullit (until 12 February)
Gianluca Vialli (from 12 February)
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achievements:
FA Premier League NO.4
FA Cup 3RD ROUND
League Cup WINNERS
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup WINNERS
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NEW SIGNINGS :
- Ed de Goey - Feyenoord, £2,250,000, June 1997
- Gus Poyet - Real Zaragoza, free, June 1997
- Tore André Flo - Brann, £300,000, 1997
- Celestine Babayaro - Anderlecht, £2,250,000, 1997
- Graeme Le Saux - Blackburn Rovers, £5,000,000, August 1997 (CLUB RECORD SIGNING)
DEPARTURE :
- Frode Grodas (to Tottenham Hotspur)
- Ruud Gullit (retired)
- David Rocastle (on loan to Hull City)
- Scott Minto
Top goalscorer League:
VIALLI (11)
TORE ANDRE FLO (11)
All:
GIANLUCA VIALLI 19 GOALS IN 33 GAMES
TORE ANDRE FLO 15 GOALS IN 44 GAMES
Mark Hughes 12 GOALSIN 39 GAMES
GIANFRANCO ZOLA 12 GOALS IN 40 GAMES
ROBERTO DI MATTEO 10 GOALS IN 43 GAMES
PETRESCU 8 GOALS IN 42 GAMES
FRANK LEBOEUF 6 GOALS IN 46 GAMES
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SEASON HIGHLIGHTS :
- Since the glaring issue of season 1996/97 was defensive frailty , Chelsea tried to upgrade it by signing Dutch Goalkeeper, Ed de Goey . Another 2 major signings this season was Gustavo Poyet, and Tore Andre Flo.
- Ruud Gullit led the team to the best position ever in Premier League Era and Chelsea was in good position to win trophies when Chelsea was second in the Premier League when he was sacked by Ken Bates, who was the club owner at that time due to disagreement between them.
- Ken Bates then again opted to appoint from within by appointing Gianluca Vialli as Player-Manager to replace Gullit. Vialli was 33 years old at that time(similar age like Willian/Pedro at this moment ) without any single managing experience.
- However,Vialli surprised everyone, when his 3 months effect ended in the glorious moment of the club at that time. Vialli won with us 1998 LEAGUE CUP and 1998 EUROPEAN CUP WINNERS CUP , while finishing the league at 4th place. ( His 3 months success was eerily similar to DiMatteo's effect when replacing Villas Boas in 2012 by winning CHAMPIONS LEAGUE and FA Cup )
- After being sacked, Gullit annouched playing retirement.
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first ix
- Ed de Goey( GK )
- Dan Petrescu ( RB ) , Frank LeBoeuf ( CB ), Steve Clark ( CB ), Graeme Le Saux (LB )
, Dennis Wise ( MID )
- DiMatteo ( Attack MID ) , Gianfranco Zola ( Attack Mid )
- Vialli ( Striker ) , Mark Hughes ( Striker ) , Tore André Flo ( Striker )
- Subs : Jody Morris, Eddie Newton, Dmitrie Kharine, John Spencer, Celestine Babayaro, Frank Sinclair, Ruud Gullit , Gustavo Poyet,
en.wikipedia.org ( 1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final LINE UP )
RESERVES SQUAD : JOHN TERRY !!!
key player 1997/98
- Wise, DiMatteo,Zola,Vialli,Hughes, Tore Andre Flo,
NEW SIGNINGS
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1)Ed de Goey
(FIRST CHOICE GK IN THE ERA OF GLORY )
1997-2003
- If United has de Gea, we once had our own de Goey for 6 seasons !
- He was the starting GK when we won 1998 LEAGUE CUP, 1998 CUP WINNERS CUP AND 2000 FA CUP.
- During 1999/2000, de Goey made record with the most appearance in a single season with 59 appearances and most clean sheet in a season with 27 ( both record was broken by Lampard and Cech respectively )
- However, in his final 3 seasons, de Goey lost his position to Cudicini and was released by Chelsea in 2003.
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2)Gus Poyet
(PROLIFIC CENTRAL MIDFIELDER LIKE DENNIS WISE )
1997-2001 ( 49 gol in 145 matches )
- arrived from Real Zaragoza on Free Transfer in 1997.
- he scored 14 goals from central midfield in season 1998/99 and 18 goals ! in season 1999/2000 ( playing in similar position like Kovacic and Kante right now )
- Poyet scored winning goal when Chelsea won 1998 UEFA SUPER CUP by beating current UEFA CL winner , Real Madrid.
- however, after the arrival of new manager Claudio Ranieri in 2000, Ranieri discarded him and he was sold at the age of 33.
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3) Tore André Flo
(LOFTY-TALL STRIKER )
1997-2000 ( 50 GOaLs IN 163 MATCHES )
- A prolific striker, even most of the time, he was used as an impact striker from the bench ( similar situation like Batshuayi )
-Flo scored 15 goals in his first season, 13 goals in his second and 19 goals in his final season ( 1 in 3 goal ration in such limited game time
- Flo was the victim of rotation policy by Vialli and Flo ultimately lost his place as Ranieri bought 2 new shiny striker in the mould of Eidur Gudjohnsen and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
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4) Graeme Le Saux
(ACADEMY PRODUCT ENDED UP AS CLUB RECORD SIGNING !!)
1989-1993, THEN 1997-2003
- Le Saux was Chelsea academy graduate and he first featured for Chelsea for 4 season before being sold to Blackburn due to his feud with manager at that time.
- However, at Blackburn Le Saux was excellent and became one of the finest Left Back in Premier League, prompting Gullit to spend a club record signing £5 million to re-sign him back , a league record signing for a defender at that time.
- In 2003, Le Saux was transferred to Southampton in part-exchanged deal in which Wayne Bridge moved to Chelsea.
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