Ian Ridley in the Grauniad looks at Cuddly’s latest blunder,
‘There is some hope for football. Chelsea are standing up for truth and justice in the game. In a conversion of Damascene proportions, self-interest and money no longer appear to motivate them.
‘The club are angry about the 'leniency' of a seven-month ban for Adrian Mutu's use of cocaine. They believe the game has been ill-served. 'It sends out the wrong message about drugs and football,' says the Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon, our latter-day Paul of Tarsus.
‘Such has been Chelsea's understanding of and commitment to the issue. You might have thought a new regime at the club would have learned something from the Mark Bosnich case, but instead they nurse suspicions about Mutu, drug test him, get him in to talk about his problems under the guise of being sympathetic, then, when he is honest, promptly sack him.
‘But then Chelsea have second thoughts. Realising that Mutu could get a shortish ban, they ask the FA, before the hearing, to retain his registration so that they could then seek compensation - effectively a transfer fee - when he does resume playing. This without paying him his wages during his ban. The words cake and eat it spring to mind.
‘As by now will have been discerned, the opening paragraph of this column is ironic. Under the guise of being standard-bearers, a Jonathan Aitken with his simple sword of truth, Chelsea are, in fact, being... well, Chelsea. Their treatment of Mutu has been crass and inhumane. As someone who has spent time with Peter Kenyon remarked to me of him: 'The softest thing about him is his teeth.'
‘Mr Kenyon seeks to deflect attention from Chelsea's shortcomings by berating the FA. 'It is also indicative of a lack of direction within the FA at this time,' he says of the ban. 'The FA has a much wider responsibility to look after the interests of the game as a whole and in this case we believe it has shown itself to be weak over the issue of drugs.'
‘Leaving aside the question of Chelsea's new-found concern for the well-being of the game in general - upwards of £40,000 a week for reserves, charging away fans up to £50 is good for the game? - their criticism of the FA is a cheap shot at a delicate time.
‘We should remember that we are not dealing with a case here, but a person. All people in every job and walk of life deserve the opportunity to own up, seek help, then receive a second chance. If Mutu does not take that chance, stiffer punishment will be proper.
‘As for Chelsea, how many chances do they want?’