The last player-manager to win a championship at Chelsea was Kenny Dalglish, who scored the goal which in 1986 secured the first half of Liverpool's Double.
On Saturday Gianluca Vialli, who would be the first of the breed to win the title for Chelsea, was asked how it felt to be top and replied that it was better than being bottom.
Not only does Vialli share Dalglish's penchant for lightning repartee he exudes more charm than the great communicator and speaks more intelligible English. But whether Chelsea become champions for only the second time will depend to some extent on how active a role on the field Vialli intends taking in the latter half of the season.
"I'm getting too old for this," he remarked after recalling himself to the attack for the 2-0 victory over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Saturday which took Chelsea to the top of the table. Age is clearly not going to be a problem for the Italian but on Saturday's evidence he needs regular matches if he is to lead by example as the championship approaches its climax. It was only Vialli's third Premiership appearance of the season and at times it showed.
Some of the touches were masterful, most noticeably when Vialli came deep to win possession and instigate movements with quick, accurate passes to the wings. But when extra pace was needed to shake off defenders or stay onside he looked sluggish, hence the murmurs of disapproval from Chelsea supporters when Gianfranco Zola, rather than Vialli, was ordered to make way for Tore Andre Flo 20 minutes from the end.
In fact, the change was borne out by events, since Vialli set up Gustavo Poyet for the first of Chelsea's two late goals while Flo headed in the second, but as the season progresses the player-manager will surely find it more difficult to pick himself on an occasional basis. Vialli quoted an exhausting match at Old Trafford three nights earlier as the reason for Zola's premature departure on Saturday.
But up to that point the urchin's touches had been the saving grace of another of those scruffy London scuffles in which space is at a premium and the ball suffers from claustrophobia. For the time being the rustic approach suits Tottenham and under George Graham they are still enjoying the novelty of hard work. Until Chelsea's superior passing began to assert itself towards half-time Spurs' willingness to challenge for everything and track down opponents in possession promised them the point which was always going to be their most realistic aim.
When Vialli, sent clear and onside by Zola in the 58th minute, wafted a rare chance over the crossbar the plot appeared to be working in Tottenham's favour. But within three minutes they had been reduced to 10 players by the dismissal of Chris Armstrong and thereafter the picture changed.
Graham does not have much luck with Graham Poll, the referee who a year earlier had sent off two of his Leeds team at Chelsea. By Poll's own strict standards he showed unaccustomed leniency towards some of Saturday's confrontations, but Armstrong should still have known better than to clip the heels of Albert Ferrer having previously been cautioned for tossing the ball away at a freekick.
While Graham had earlier made an observation about the difficulty of scoring against 10 men, he reckoned without the corollary that Chelsea's passing game will always be hard to withstand once a side is a player short. Poyet's goal, a gentle ricochet off a post, punished Spurs for allowing Celestine Babayaro's centre to reach Vialli and Flo's header rewarded Dan Petrescu's determination in keeping the ball in play before centring.
Chelsea: De Goey, Petrescu, Babayaro, Leboeuf, Poyet, Vialli, Duberry, Ferrer, Lambourde (Goldbaek 90), Zola (Flo 71), Morris. Subs Not Used: Hitchcock, Nicholls, Terry. Booked: Duberry, Babayaro, Vialli. Goals: Poyet 80, Flo 90.
Tottenham: Walker, Carr, Nielsen, Fox (Allen 85), Anderton, Ferdinand, Armstrong, Ginola (Clemence 65), Sinton (Edinburgh 74), Campbell, Young. Subs Not Used: Calderwood, Baardsen. Sent Off: Armstrong (61). Booked: Armstrong, Ferdinand. Att: 34,881.
Referee: G Poll (Tring).
