Much as we would prefer not to dwell on the bad moments on the season, we at the Chelsea FanCast recognise that you can’t have the good without the bad!
To be fair the really bad moments have been few and far between this season and there has been little injustice on the scale that we have seen in previous seasons. We have progressed as a team and we have our best manager back at the helm.
But the first nomination for worst moment of the season has to be the sale of 2 time player of the year – Juan Mata. The fact that he was sold to Man Utd made it worse, even though they have had their worst season for years. The hurt was derived from the fact that Mata was a skilful player who many believed could have become the heir apparent to the throne of Gianfranco Zola, at least in our affections. Beyond that was the fact that Mata was an incredibly likeable chap – cultured, intelligent and clearly loved both Chelsea and London. Any other manager than Jose Mourinho sanctioning the sale probably would have been lynched. The arguments still rage about whether Mata’s lack of pace, athleticism and ability to track back was countered by his skilful contributions, assists and goals. The bottom line is that taken in the round Chelsea are poorer for losing Juan Mata.
The second nomination is for the home defeat to Sunderland that all but ended our title challenge. It wasn’t just the end of the title 
challenge that hurt – many of us felt that we probably wouldn’t win it anyway – but this match brought to an end Jose Mourinho’s astonishing record of not being beaten at home in the Premier League for 78 matches. This was compounded by the fact that an ex-Chelsea player scored the winner from a dodgy penalty given by an odious referee who had a mare all afternoon. A fact not unnoticed by Jose Mourinho and even more so by Rui Faria who threatened to deck the Fourth Official. Even worse the defeat was met with such shock that a ghoulish quiet descended on Stamford Bridge and many left early. A bad day all round.
The final nomination caused some debate on the Chelsea FanCast #288. But if a defeat in a Champions’ League semi-final isn’t one of the worst moments of the season then what on earth is!! I’d agree that compared to some semi-final defeats this was a little easier to take as we were beaten fair and square on the night by the better team. The immediate aftermath in the pub was fine, but waking up the next day to realise that we would not be in a European final three years in a row, or enjoying a few days in the Portuguese sun, really did hurt.
If you want to vote for the Worst Moment of the Season then all you have to do is vote below. We will be revealing the results and discussing what we voted for on the Chelsea FanCast on Monday 19th May. Watch the show live at 19.00-21.00 GMT (Voting closes at 19.30 GMT) by going to sportstonightlive.com or on this website here or of course you can listen and post in the chat room at Mixlr.
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