LOUISE TAYLOR
Ashley Cole broke down in tears as he, Frank Lampard and John Terry saluted the arena during the Chelsea players' end-of-season lap of appreciation, and Jose Mourinho confirmed the club intend to take stock over the next few weeks before determining whether the experienced trio are to stay at Stamford Bridge.
Talks have been continuing with the representatives of the trio, who have 1,609 appearances for Chelsea between them but are out of contract on July 1st, over new one-year deals.
Yet while Terry and Lampard are expected to stay, albeit on reduced terms, Cole's future appears less certain, with the 33-year-old having started only 14 Premier League games this season after losing his place to Cesar Azpilicueta. There is interest, too, in signing the Atletico Madrid full back Filipe Luis.
Cole started the goalless draw against Norwich City, a result that effectively wrecked Chelsea’s lingering hopes of the title while also seriously damaging the visitors’ chances of remaining in the division.
Afterwards the left back, Lampard and Terry peeled away to applaud the support in the Matthew Harding stand, with their emotion clear.
“Again, they are with the club on their future,” said Mourinho, who has stated the case for the three to be retained. “I think they will play here [for Chelsea] again. I think so.
Mourinho described his side's first-half showing as "lazy, slow, no pressure, never pressing an opponent" as they endured a third successive home game without a win.
Ineligible player
The Premier League is, meanwhile, understood to be confident any legal attempt to reverse its decision not to dock Sunderland points for fielding an ineligible player would fail.
The Observer revealed yesterday that Norwich, Fulham and Cardiff have instructed lawyers to challenge the decision to merely fine the Wearside club a six figure sum despite their deployment of Ji Dong-won in four league games.
A points forfeiture could dictate that Gus Poyet’s side were relegated rather than, as seems most likely, Norwich but the so called “gang of three” appear to have overlooked the formidable strength of Sunderland’s potential defence.
With no Premier League appeal mechanism available any action would involve suing the governing body at vast expense. Logistically it would be virtually impossible for a case to be heard by a court before August and the start of next season.
Although there have been a string of precedents in which clubs lost points for selecting ineligible players, Premier League rules allow scope for leniency in situations such as Ji’s which involve a lack of international clearance.
Moreover the South Korea forward was registered with the Premier League and Football Association as part of Sunderland’s 25-man match-day squad at the time of the offence. Both governing bodies had ratified his inclusion on their electronic extranet systems.
While a clerical error on an online Fifa form meant Ji technically lacked international clearance after a loan stint at Augsburg last season. – Guardian Service
