by Darren Wicks (May 23, 2007)

Well that must be an English footballing first - one team wins both domestic cup competitions but apparently that is failure.

Monday's headlines were screaming how apparently winning the Carling Cup and FA Cup in the same season wasn't good enough for Chelsea's board.

Throw in the capitulation of second place in the Premiership and semi-finalists in the Champions League.

Oh yes, Jose Mourinho has plenty to be ashamed of there.

The FA Cup final may not have been a classic, but the goal that won it certainly was.

There may only have been a few minutes of extra-time left, but Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard showed great presence of mind and no little skill to combine for Drogba's beautifully taken winning goal.

While any United fan inside Wembley could see that they had been beaten by the better team, the United fans in the press box were sharpening their pens.

Oh yes, of course it was a goal when Ryan Giggs' challenge on Petr Cech's head bundled the ball about an inch over the line.

Oh yes, of course Chelsea had won the final by playing ugly football.

And, oh no, of course there is no way you could blame old red cheeks Fergie and his United braves for the fact they barely threatened the Chelsea goal in 120 minutes of football.

If United really are this footballing dream team everybody makes them out to be, why didn't they attack Chelsea from the off?

Could it just be possible that the real reason that the cup final failed to live up to the new Wembley hype was that Fergie tends to play it overly cagey on the big occasion.

Is it really a coincidence that United featured in all of the worst cup finals - remember their 1996 1-0 win over Liverpool's Armani-clad spice boys and the 2005 bore draw with Arsenal?

No, this has been another season of great achievement for Chelsea - in some ways even better than the previous two seasons given the circumstances.

Long-term injuries to Cech, John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho could have thrown the Blues off course, but the bickering over Mourinho's future actually seemed to galvanise the team at the crucial time.

If, as seems likely, the chequebook is to remain virtually closed this summer, next season will be the true test of Mourinho's greatness.

I'm backing the manager to prove it it the insatiable team spirit that is behind Chelsea's success - not just Roman's wads of cash.