DES Cahill met Gary Cahill while attending Chelsea vs Southampton and joked about how their shared surname varies in pronunciation.
It was a fun Stamford Bridge visit overall for Des and his son as the Blues cruised to a 4-0 win over the Premier League basement dwellers.
Des and son Paul alongside the 39-year-old[/caption]
Their view as Ireland midfielder Will Smallbone was about to take the kick-off[/caption]
Des and son Paul are actually West Ham supporters having previously travelled to Prague to cheer the Irons on in the 2023 Europa Conference League final.
But they were still happy to mingle with the former Blues skipper after the one-sided affair.
Upon meeting Gary, Des quipped: “Three Cahills…but only one England international!
“Former Chelsea FC defender, Gary Cahill, couldn’t have been nicer! Are you Caaa-hills, K-hills..??’”
Pre-match protests aimed at the board’s management of the club and a stuttering season gave way to a resounding win and climbing back into the top four and the prospect of Champions League football next term.
It may only be temporary with a batch of games on Wednesday but after the run of results Chelsea have endured of late they will seize on any crumb of self-confidence.
And one thing that hopeless Southampton are good at is making even the most uncertain opponents feel like world champions.
Goals from Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto and Levi Colwill had three points wrapped up by half-time.
And following a run of just two wins in the previous ten Premier League games, shocking defeats against Brighton and chucking away the lead at Aston Villa last weekend, this felt like a change in the air – much like the subtle approach of spring time at this time of year.
It wasn’t textbook. It came against a backdrop of angry fans outside the ground, nervous ones inside and even resentment of the way Chelsea are playing.
The players dilly-dallied when the crowd wanted to see some old-fashioned boot through the ball and they let them know it.
There remains a sense that more hardcore supporters are not buying into the project of buying young players at vast expense and sitting around to wait for success to come.
A knot of them gathered at the stadium gates to voice their discontent before kick-off.
While not large in number, the blue smoke bombs and chanting made a point.
They were calling for their Chelsea back, where just before Christmas they were singing about having their Chelsea back.
When they beat Brentford on December 15 to move second in the table it was all Christmas festivity and winter sparkle.
Just a couple of months later and the world seems wonky as they scramble to keep pace with the top teams.
Yet Chelsea remain favourites to win a European trophy this season – albeit the third-rate Conference League.
That’s something even if it’s taken a billion quid spent on the squad to get there.
