(Action Images)
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Chelsea and Spurs in action at the Bridge in March. (Action images)
Defender Mai Donaghy on Premier League duty last season.
principals are upheld throughout the
club and at all levels.
One young man who will be hoping to
shoot to prominence this season is
18-year-old Neil Shipperley, who
scored on his full debut in April against
Wimbledon.
Shipperley has been prolific in the
club's youth and reserve side in recent
seasons and may be the man to save
Hoddle and Chelsea a fortune
on the transfer market. If Shipperley
scored half as many goals in the
first team as he did at other levels
Chelsea would be in heaven.
The foundations for Chelsea's success
are there and showed in patches last
season. They looked possibles for
Europe after a 10-match unbeaten run
leading up to Christmas, but their form
tailed off badly in the New Year, and
manager Ian Porterfield paid the price
with his job.
The rot set in after a Third Round FA
Cup defeat at Middlesbrough and a 3-
1 loss in the Coca-Cola Cup quarter
final match at Crystal Palace.
David Webb was drafted in to arrest the
slide, and although he coped
admirably in difficult circumstances.
Bates had no doubts as to whom he
wanted running the club's football
affairs.
"It was clear in our minds that the
person we wanted to take Chelsea into
the next century was Glenn Hoddle -
and we were prepared to wait," said
the Chelsea chairman.
It could turn out to be a very astute
decision. With the future of Stamford
Bridge now assured and with Hoddle
pulling the strings, success could be
just around the corner.