The Times
September 27, 2007

Salomon Kalou relieves some of the pressure as Chelsea find their cutting edge
Hull 0 Chelsea 4

Matt Hughes

Avram Grant must have feared being fed to the sharks in the nearby
aquarium after sitting through 36 scoreless minutes, but to his
intense relief, Chelsea's misfiring players finally showed that they,
too, possess teeth after all. Scott Sinclair, Salomon Kalou and Steve
Sidwell all scored their first goals of the season before the Ivory
Coast striker added another to bring a satisfactory end to one of the
most turbulent weeks in the club's history.

After scoring one goal in their previous four matches, any evidence of
a cutting edge is to be welcomed by Chelsea, although it would be
wrong to assume that a comprehensive win over a team seventh bottom of
the Coca-Cola Championship will cure all their ills. Hull's aquarium
is known as The Deep and Chelsea's players will have driven past it
last night well aware they have only just begun to clamber out of the
huge hole the club have dug for them.

It is to the players' credit that Chelsea's team spirit has survived
the trials and tribulations of the past seven days, though other
problems remain. The uncertainty created by Grant's failure to obtain
a Uefa Pro Licence has not been resolved, the injured Didier Drogba
and Frank Lampard have not been given comeback dates and the position
of Andriy Shevchenko, an unused substitute last night, remains
unclear. To add to the intrigue, Roman Abramovich was absent despite
hiring ten bodyguards to guarantee his safety. "If he's here, you say
he picks the team and if he's not, you say he's unhappy," Grant, the
Chelsea manager, said. "He missed a good game."

With a chill wind blowing in from the east, Shevchenko should have
felt at home, though it was a strike partnership from warmer parts
that secured the holders a place in Saturday's fourth-round draw.
Claudio Pizarro did a passable impression of Drogba by holding the
ball up well and showed signs of developing a promising partnership
with Kalou, who, after a frustrating start to the season, finally
found his shooting boots. After seeing his team-mates score four goals
for the first time since a 4-1 win over West Ham United in April,
Shevchenko can hardly expect to regain his place for the West London
derby against Fulham on Saturday.

Grant praised his players' clinical finishing and neat build-up play,
but Phil Brown, the Hull manager, was more taken with their
togetherness and support for the manager. "The one thing I learnt from
Chelsea tonight was their players believed in one another and trusted
one another," Brown said. "They proved a point and played for the
manager."

Chelsea's energetic opening provided an early sign of their enduring
spirit as they forced four corners in quick succession. If the final
20 minutes of Chelsea's Champions League draw with Rosenborg last week
had resembled an ice hockey match, as Knut Torum, the Norwegian's
side's coach, claimed, then this was more like Pinball Wizard.
Sidwell's shot was cleared off the line by Sam Ricketts, Michael
Essien's volley was saved by Bo Myhill and the Ghana midfield player
then blasted over the bar after a good run from Shaun Wright-Phillips.

After being besieged for five minutes, Hull showed good spirit
themselves to turn the match into a compelling contest, with Jay-Jay
Okocha linking well with his wingers, Stuart Elliott and Henrik
Pedersen, though their resistance was broken as Chelsea took the lead
in the 37th minute.

Juliano Belletti found Wright-Phillips in space down the right, with
the England winger crossing for Scott Sinclair to score his first goal
for the club on his first start of the season. The 18-year-old showed
impressive composure given his inexperience, cutting in from the left
to place a right-foot shot past Myhill.

With confidence restored, Chelsea dominated the second half after
doubling their lead in the 48th minute, with Kalou exchanging a
one-two with Pizarro before meeting his cross with a neat header.
Whereas Chelsea's second goal contained an element of poetry, their
third, four minutes later, was the result of sheer power, with Sidwell
almost bursting the back of the net with a right-foot shot from 25
yards. Kalou added a fourth late on and Wayne Bridge, the left back,
provided more good news by making his first appearance of the season
after ankle surgery, though the real tests are yet to come, as Grant
admitted.

"All the goals came from combinations with passes between many
players," he said. "Our target is to score many goals and play
attacking football. I want the team to play as much attacking football
as they can."

Hull City (4-4-1-1): B Myhill – S Ricketts, M Turner, W Brown, D
Delaney (sub: A Dawson, 53min) – H Pedersen (sub: N Featherstone, 73),
I Ashbee, D Livermore, S Elliott (sub: R Garcia, 53) – A Okocha – S
McPhee. Substitutes not used: B Hughes, T Woodhead. Booked: Brown.

Chelsea (4-4-2): C Cudicini – J Belletti, T Ben Haim, J Terry, A Cole
(sub: W Bridge, 65) – S Wright-Phillips (sub: J Cole, 48), M Essien
(sub: C Makelele, 73), S Sidwell, S Sinclair – C Pizarro, S Kalou.
Substitutes not used: Hilαrio, A Shevchenko.

Referee: C Foy.
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Telegraph:

Chelsea back in winning mood

By Tim Rich

Hull City (0) 0 0 Chelsea (1) 4

Avram Grant's wife, a woman flamboyant enough to make Nancy Dell'Olio
seem like Norma Major, presents her own television show in Israel,
called True Questions.

Although her husband's fate will be determined by rather harder
assignments than this, the question: "Will you be humiliated by Hull
and sacked by the weekend?" was answered with an emphatic ''no". The
response would, however, have had to be relayed to the Chelsea owner,
Roman Abramovich, who decided an autumnal night in east Yorkshire was
something he could do without. Grant smiled that he had missed a good
game.

Abramovich was right to spare himself the journey. After Sunday's
defeat by Manchester United, the former Chelsea captain, Marcel
Desailly, had made an impassioned appeal for the club's supporters to
remember that Chelsea had survived the departures of Ruud Gullit and
Gianluca Vialli; men who at the time had seemed as pivotal to
Chelsea's future as Jose Mourinho.

This was the kind of victory that, had you woken from a week-long
coma, you would assume came from a side still associated with him. In
Mourinho's three seasons at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea never remotely
looked like losing to lower-division opposition – and nor did they
last night.

And yet not even when Salomon Kalou converted his second goal and
Chelsea's fourth nine minutes from time did the travelling support
mention Grant's name. Even when the match was long-since done you
could hear a faint echo, sung to the Waltz of the Toreadors, of "Jose
Mourinho, Jose Mourinho" dissolving into the night skies.

The "Special One" banner that Chelsea's supporters had rallied behind
at Old Trafford on Sunday was not at the KC Stadium last night but the
first and last chants were all about a man whose ghost dominates the
club he has left in the way that Brian Clough and Kevin Keegan haunted
Derby and Newcastle. At the Baseball Ground, Clough's successor, Dave
Mackay, coped; at St James' Park, Kenny Dalglish did not. With the
pick of Europe's coaches, from Guus Hiddink to Marco van Basten,
standing in the shadows, Grant still needs more than 4-0 wins over
sides who are 18th in the Championship.

Maybe it is time for perspective. This was the sixth time the cups had
taken Chelsea to Humberside and they had sometimes arrived in a far
worse state than now. Their 2-0 victory at Boothferry Park in 1982 was
at the time Chelsea's ruinous debt was threatening to turn Stamford
Bridge into a particularly expensive housing estate. This may be a
crisis but there have been worse.

When Scott Sinclair drilled his shot with geometric precision into the
corner of Bo Myhill's goal in the 37th minute, the crisis began to
ease. And as Kalou headed into a virtually unguarded net, it was clear
that the gulf between the two sides could not be spanned even by the
sweeping girders of the Humber Bridge. After the 52nd minute, when
Steve Sidwell hammered home his first goal in a Chelsea shirt,
thoughts began to stray to Chelsea's last visit to Humberside under
Vialli, which ended in a 6-1 rout in the FA Cup.

Although they carried their greatest threat when the game was
irretrievably lost, Hull did exactly what might be expected of them.
They began the night shooting fireworks into the chill night air and
hired a rather splendid opera singer, who, for those still concerned
by the Divorce of Jose, reeled off a number from The Marriage of
Figaro and inevitably, Nessun Dorma, which was introduced as "a song
about winning".

If Hull were to grab the most memorable victory in their history, then
you imagined that Jay-Jay Okocha would have to play some part in it
all. The great Nigerian sparked one flicker of the old brilliance,
pulling back a pass that Stephen McPhee drove just over the bar.

That was the closest Hull were to come until they were three goals
down. Their manager, Phil Brown, who got to know Grant when
negotiating Tal Ben-Haim's transfer to Bolton as Sam Allardyce's
assistant, thought Chelsea unlucky to have lost at Old Trafford and
thought them clinical here.

Given the controversy that has surrounded the Chelsea captain, Grant
was right to start with John Terry, who made one critical interception
and then on the final whistle kissed his badge and threw his shirt
into the crowd. Terry is not the sort of man to endure humiliation and
he was not about to begin now.

Match details

Hull City: (4-5-1) Myhill; Ricketts, Turner, Brown Delaney (Dawson
53); Pedersen (Featherstone 71), Ashbee, Livermore, McPhee, Okocha;
Elliott (Garcia 53).
Subs: Woodhead (g), Hughes.
Booked: Brown.
Chelsea: (4-4-2) Cudicini; Belletti, Ben Haim, Terry, A Cole (Bridge
65); Wright-Phillips (J Cole 49) Essien (Makelele 71), Sidwell,
Sinclair; Kalou, Pizarro.
Subs: Hilario (g), Makelele, Shevchenko.
Goals: Sinclair 37, Kalou 48, Sidwell 52, Kalou 81.
Referee: C Foy (Merseyside).
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Indy:

Hull City 0 Chelsea 4: Hull proves to be Grant's welcome break
By Jason Burt

Victories like this were routine for Jose Mourinho – although he would
have curled his lip as Chelsea kept attacking when the contest was
over – but Hull away will forever have a place in the heart of his
successor Avram Grant.

Not that he has found his way into the affections of Chelsea's
supporters. There were songs for Mourinho, Frank Lampard and even
Gianfranco Zola, but the Israeli? Nothing. It may take more than
dismissing a side languishing 18th in the Championship, and fielding a
weakened line-up, for that to happen.

But there was also an ironic chant of "boring, boring Chelsea" and
Grant, charged with creating a more entertaining style, can be pleased
with that. This was, after all, not just a would-be banana skin for
the new manager, coming to grips with his elevation, but a whole crate
of fetid, stinking fruit that could have been poured over his head
with anything short of a resounding win.

The Carling Cup, of which Chelsea are the holders, was the first
trophy won by Mourinho. Whether Grant is even still around for the
final next spring, never mind reaching it, remains to be seen. But
there was satisfaction in the performance and the goals even if owner
Roman Abramovich was delayed and wasn't, apparently, able to fly north
to take up one of the 24 seats reserved for his entourage.

"I think he missed a good game," said Grant, wary of accusations that
it is his pay-master, not he, who is picking the team but emboldened
by a vibrant performance to try a little wit of his own. "Our target
is to score many goals and play attacking football," he added. It's
the kind of statement that would have had Mourinho throwing his arms
up in disgust. Surely, he would have said, the only target is winning?
But, as he found out, that ultimately was not enough.

Grant awoke yesterday to claims that, after just one week in situ, his
job had been offered to Marco van Basten. Chelsea responded robustly
to that by denying any such thing, though such is their record of not
being totally clear with the truth, so to speak, it was probably a
waste of time doing so. But it backed the new man and he responded
with a selection of intent and a first-choice core. He knew he could
not lose so there was no rest for John Terry and his bruised toe or,
after the events of last week, his bruised ego either.

There was, however, no place for Andrei Shevchenko, who found himself
parked on the bench as Chelsea propelled Hull back with a succession
of corners. It was a long way for the Ukrainian to travel to not take
part although he could have been forgiven for rolling his eyes
opportunities were wasted.

Hull gradually worked their way back into the match, prompted by the
guile of Jay-Jay Okocha and, also, aided by a wretched performance by
Ashley Cole. But nerves were steadied when Shaun Wright-Phillips – who
later hobbled off although Grant claimed he was "fine" – pulled the
ball back to Scott Sinclair. The 18-year-old calmly arced a right-foot
shot into the corner of the net for his first Chelsea goal.

Immediately after the interval Chelsea struck again. It was a sweeping
move with Claudio Pizarro nimbly picking out Salomon Kalou who
attempted to head home but was beaten to it by the hapless Damien
Delaney for an own goal. Suddenly Chelsea were on fire even if Hull's
Ian Ashbee missed a glorious headed opportunity.

Another swift attack, with Ashley Cole and Pizarro combining down the
left, ended with the ball being laid to Steve Sidwell who struck home
a crisp drive from 25 yards. Terry had a header cleared off the line
and then Joe Cole, an eager substitute, skipped down the left and
picked out Kalou who side-footed in to complete the scoring.

The Hull manager, Phil Brown, was phlegmatic. "It was always going to
be about Chelsea and Avram Grant," he said. "They've proved a point.
Avram's got a great chance." It may not be a universally-held view but
his prospects have certainly improved.

Hull City (4-2-3-1): Myhill; Ricketts, Turner, Brown, Delaney (Dawson,
53); Ashbee, Livermore; Pedersen (Featherstone, 73), Okocha, Elliott
(Garcia, 53), McPhee. Substitutes not used: Woodhead (gk), Hughes.

Chelsea (4-4-2): Cudicini; Belletti, Ben Haim, Terry, A Cole (Bridge,
65); Wright-Phillips (J Cole, 49), Essien (Makelele, 73), Sidwell,
Sinclair; Kalou Pizarro. Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk),
Shevchenko.

Referee: C Foy (Merseyside).
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Chelsea rout kick-starts Grant era


Louise Taylor at the KC Stadium
Thursday September 27, 2007
The Guardian


Jose who? Admittedly it was against a Championship side in the Carling
Cup but a vibrant Chelsea performance suffused with goals and
improvisational attacking suggested there just might be a life for the
Blues post Mourinho after all.
Moreover this new era may even include an extended managerial stay for
Avram Grant, the Pro licence-less former Israel manager who
choreographed Chelsea's first win in five games with a pleasingly
fluent game plan far removed from Mourinho's hallmark conservatism.

It was the sort of tie his predecessor would conceivably have been
happy to win by a one- or two-goal margin but, bolstered by his team's
rapid counter-attacking, Grant marked his first victory with a bold
mission statement. "That's the sort of football I want Chelsea to
play, that's very much the goal," he said. "I'm happy with the
performance. There were good combinations between many players, good
passing and four goals."
Indeed the only shame was that Roman Abramovich - who had booked a
place in the directors' box, plus 10 more for his minders - was not
there to see it. "I think he missed a good game," said Grant, who was
unperturbed by occasional chants of "Jose Mourinho" from the away end.
"Managers come and go but players want to play for the club," he
shrugged.

At the end of a day when Chelsea denied reports that they were
considering appointing Marco van Basten in Grant's stead, Mourinho's
successor felt sufficiently confident to make seven changes from the
side that lost at Manchester United on Sunday.

Grant's team looked eager from the off and might easily have taken a
quick lead. The Israeli has not exactly enjoyed the best of luck with
refereeing decisions during his short time in charge and must have
been frustrated to see his side denied a clear penalty for handball in
the third minute when Hull's left-back, Damien Delaney, sneakily
stretched out a hand to palm Salomon Kalou's shot wide.

The visitors also forced a flurry of corners but, when Jay-Jay Okocha
began reminding everyone that he can still pass a bit and deliver a
mean dead ball, John Terry was required to make a couple of important
headed clearances.

Phil Brown, Hull's manager, had asked his players to "dare to dream"
and, inspired by the influential Okocha, they gradually began enjoying
some protracted periods of possession and might even have taken the
lead if Stephen McPhee had not angled an inviting headed chance wide.
Poor McPhee would later spurn a similarly promising opening after an
Okocha cross wrong-footed Terry and Tal Ben Haim.

Scott Sinclair's finishing proved far more precise as the left-sided
winger accelerated seamlessly to meet Shaun Wright-Phillips' square
ball across the box and promptly sidefoot beyond the helpless Bo
Myhill, who was unsighted by Terry's presence in an arguably offside
position.

Brown's hitherto resilient defence had failed to register the danger
when Wright-Phillips exchanged slick passes with Juliano Belletti
before cutting in from the right and centring for Sinclair's first
senior goal for Chelsea. Loaned to Plymouth last season, Sinclair has
long been tipped for great things by Mourinho and looks ready for a
chance in the Premier League.

It was the first truly chilly night of autumn in east Yorkshire but
Grant must surely have felt beautifully warm when Chelsea began the
second half with a second goal rather generously credited to Kalou. In
reality it appeared more of an own-goal on the part of Delaney, who
seemed to head Claudio Pizarro's delicately chipped cross into his own
net after jumping for the ball with Kalou.

There was no doubt about the identity of the next scorer though, Steve
Sidwell claiming his first goal for Chelsea since arriving from
Reading in the summer, his drive struck with the outside of a boot
from about 22 yards.

Although Okocha curled a free-kick inches wide, Chelsea highlighted
their superiority when their substitutes Joe Cole and Wayne Bridge
exchanged passes down the left before the former centred for Kalou to
turn and beat Myhill with a neat, first-time, left-foot finish. "A
lesson in quality," said Brown. "And I thought Chelsea played for
their manager tonight."
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Mail:

Hull 0-4 Chelsea: Kalou double gets Grant off the mark

By NEIL ASHTON

Jose Mourinho singled out Scott Sinclair for special praise when he
made his final farewells at the training ground last week.

'You can be a star,' he told the youngster during an emotional
exchange in the changing room and last night he lived up to his
billing with the goal that temporarily took the pressure off Avram
Grant.

The name of the Carling Cup holders is in the hat for Saturday's
fourth-round draw and that is all that counts after they survived
their 400-mile round trip to Hull.

Phil Brown's side, 18th in the Championship, made a fist of it, but
Sinclair swept Hull aside with a 37th-minute effort. They finished off
the job when Hull left-back Damien Delaney headed into his own net
three minutes after the break, Steven Sidwell scored his first goal
for the club with a long-range strike and Salomon Kalou converted an
incisive pass from Joe Cole.

It means Grant is off the hook for the time being, but Saturday's
visit of west London rivals Fulham promises to be a far bigger test.

Grant made seven changes to the side who lost to Manchester United on
Sunday, but there was still a familiar feel about this Chelsea lineup.

Skipper John Terry, along with Michael Essien, Carlo Cudicini and
Shaun Wright-Phillips, are all part of the fabric of the club and they
were expected to carry Chelsea into the fourth round.

They were stuttering before Mourinho left the club last Wednesday, but
there has been little to suggest that Grant is capable of steadying
the ship. Chelsea are five points off the pace in the Premier League
and the new manager will need more than a good run in the Carling Cup
to sweet-talk Chelsea's sceptical supporters.

Grant believes he can transform the team's fortunes. He left Andriy
Shevchenko, lethargic and heavylegged at Old Trafford, on the bench
and paired Claudio Pizarro with Kalou up front.

Kalou had the first chance of the game when Terry's header fell kindly
to him inside the penalty area, but his half-volley appeared to strike
the arm of Hull defender Delaney. Referee Chris Foy initially believed
Tigers keeper Boaz Myhill had turned his effort around the post, but
television replays suggested that Chelsea should have been awarded a
penalty.

It was a let-off for Hull, but Brown's side were playing without fear.
Jay-Jay Okocha, who played under the Hull chief when he was assistant
manager at Bolton, had a typically flamboyant effort turned around the
post.

Some of Hull's players are still tuning into his wavelength after his
surprise arrival on Humberside, but he is the classiest player to have
worn this club's colours.

He might have lost his pace, but he will never lose the tricks of the
trade and he was determined to go through the whole repertoire in
front of an expectant home crowd.

Okocha's early effort settled Hull's nerves, but they lacked the final
ball. David Livermore and Stuart Elliott probed down each wing, but
Chelsea's defence was always a yard quicker to the ball.

Terry, who has been the bedrock of Chelsea success over the last three
years, provided the towering clearances whenever Hull threatened to
expose their fragile confidence.

Chelsea were not without chances in a first half that was evenly contested.

Wright-Phillips, recalled to the team after being surprisingly axed
last Sunday, shot wildly over the crossbar and Pizarro's goalbound
flick was turned away for a corner.

Steven Sidwell, who had made just two appearances for the club,
excelled in the centre of midfield, but Hull had their own share of
outstanding performers.

Hull skipper Ian Ashbee was full of running, but there were stellar
performances from Wayne Brown and Michael Turner at the heart of
Hull's defence.

Myhill, among the best keepers in the Championship, saved well at the
feet of the oncoming Wright- Phillips, but there was nothing he could
do about the opener.

Hull were too slow to react when Wright-Phillips exchanged passes with
Juliano Belletti from a corner and Sinclair timed his run from the
left to perfection.

Wright-Phillips executed the pass across the penalty area and Sinclair
sidefooted home Chelsea's opener.

Hull responded when McPhee connected with Okocha's cross from the
right, but Cudicini was relieved to see his crisply taken effort clear
the bar.

Hull collapsed like a pack of cards after the break. Delaney appeared
to meet Pizarro's cross first to head the ball past his own keeper
under pressure from Kalou and they were out of the competition when
Sidwell scored his first goal for the club.

The Chelsea midfielder has taken time to settle at Stamford Bridge,
but he was mobbed by team-mates when his 25-yard strike beat Myhill.

It was a stunning effort from the Chelsea midfielder, but Hull were no
match for the visitors last night.

Particularly when Joe Cole cut in from the left and side-footed a
perfect pass for Kalou to score the fourth nine minutes from time.

HULL CITY (4-4-2): Myhill 7; Ricketts 6, Brown 8, Turner 7, Delaney
(Dawson 53min, 6); Livermore 6, Ashbee 7, Okocha 7, Elliott 6 (Garcia
53, 6); Pedersen 6 (Featherston 73, 6), McPhee 6.

Booked: Brown.

CHELSEA (4-4-2): Cudicini 6; Belletti 6, Ben Haim 6, Terry 7, A Cole 6
(Bridge 65, 6); Wright-Phillips 7 (J Cole 49, 7), Essien 6 (Makalele
73, 6), Sidwell 7, Sinclair 7; Pizarro 6, Kalou 6.

Man of the match: Steve Sidwell.

Referee: C Foy.
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Sun:
Hull City 0 Chelsea 4

By IAN McGARRY
September 27, 2007

HAVING weathered the Jose Mourinho storm, Avram Grant looked into the
eye of the Tigers last night and escaped unscathed.

The new Chelsea boss won his first match since taking over to see
Blues safely into round four.

It was a favourite competition for Grant's predecessor — with the
Portuguese coach having won it twice.

The last time was in February when Mourinho famously gave Roman
Abramovich a five-finger salute to remind him how many trophies he'd
won.

No doubt, the billionaire owner would have also been pleased with last
night's display. Not so pleasing, though, was the still fervent
support for the departed Mourinho from the hardcore of Blues fans.

But Scott Sinclair and Steve Sidwell got first strikes for the club
and Salomon Kalou headed home in between. He also smashed home a
fourth nine minutes from time.

After a nervy start and seven changes from the team which lost at Old
Trafford, it was just what the doctor ordered.

In the past, the Blues squad for games like this would have been light
on stars. The teamsheet for this was anything but. Only Sinclair could
be classed as one for the future.

Skipper John Terry was there as was Ashley Cole and Michael Essien.
Apart from the injured players, only Petr Cech and Florent Malouda
were excluded.

The biggest shock was Andriy Shevchenko — replaced by Claudio Pizzaro
— being left on the bench.

Essien took less than two minutes to cause Grant to lose his rag
though when he passed short to Jay-Jay Okocha. Luckily for Chelsea,
Hull's brilliant Nigerian fluffed the opening.

Kalou then had a volley well blocked by Hull No 1 Boaz Myhill and the
Tigers survived.

Terry must have hoped for a quiet night on Humberside but was called
on several times to clear his lines.

Sam Ricketts found Steve McPhee with a perfect cross but the striker
steered a free header wide. Okocha was running riot and released
Stuart Elliot whose cross was hacked clear.

Shaun Wright-Phillips should have put Chelsea in front but fired
straight at Myhill. He did better after 37 minutes setting up Sinclair
who curled home.

Three minutes after the break Kalou made no mistake although he and
defender Damien Delaney met Pizarro's cross together.

Grant immediately withdrew Wright-Phillips and put on Joe Cole with
the message to kill the game.

The players took the call to heart and four minutes later it was 3-0
through Sidwell's 20-yarder.

Hull's spirit did not falter and Henrik Pedersen, Okocha and Ian
Ashbee went close. Even when Kalou fired in a lovely left-foot shot
their heads did not drop.

One win means Grant can breathe a little easier — at least until
Saturday when they face a much tougher test at home to Fulham.
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Mirror:

GRANT'S SINCING FEELING
Scott gives new boss his first win Hull 0 Chelsea 4

Simon Bird 27/09/2007

Jose Mourinho helped Chelsea to victory last night - seven days after
losing his job.

The former boss's final act at Chelsea's training ground last Thursday
was to hug youngster Scott Sinclair and tell him: You'll be a big star
one day.

And feeding off that boost from his departing boss, the 18-year-old
stepped up to the first team last night, grabbed his first goal for
the club, and gave new manager Avram Grant his first win.

The 18-year-old sent Chelsea on the way to a comprehensive victory,
Chelsea's first in five games. Grant has been told to deliver goals
and more exciting football by owner Roman Abramovich.

AdvertisementWell, the goals certainly came quickly once Hull's
resistance had been broken. The next test is to reproduce this
finishing against Premiership opposition. Bathborn Sinclair,
controversially poached from Bristol Rovers two years ago, set Chelsea
up for an easy win with his 38th minute curler.

Three minutes after the break Salomon Kalou scrambled in a cross from
Claudio Pizarro to make it a cruise for the visitors after an
uncomfortable first half.

Four minutes later Steve Sidwell rifled in his debut goal for his new
club from 25 yards.

And Kalou tucked away his second of the evening in the 81st minute
with his left foot from Joe Cole's cross.

It may have only been Hull City, a lowly Championship club, in the
Carling Cup, but for Grant it was a vital win to settle the club after
a hellish week when the figure of Mourinho has loomed large.

One down side for Chelsea was Shaun Wright-Phillips limping out of the
game in the second half with an injury that England boss Steve
McClaren will be concerned about.

Abramovich wasn't at the KC Stadium and missed the banner warning the
Russian: "This club is ours and not your toy." The opening goal of
Grant's new regime came seven minutes before half-time, and settled a
performance that reflected the uncertainty at the club.

Shaun Wright-Phillips whipped a low ball across the box which left
Hull's retreating defence flat-footed. Sinclair collected the ball on
the right edge of the area and curled a side-footed effort through a
host of bodies into the far corner.

It was only Chelsea's second goal in their last five games.

It was the Championship strugglers, and Jay-Jay Okocha, who produced
the early tricks, flicks and chances, that required some well-timed
defensive blocks to repel. Chelsea treated the game with respect by
fielding the likes of John Terry, Ashley Cole and Michael Essien when
under normal circumstances they would have been rested for an early
round Carling Cup tie.

Grant's men were busy in defence as Henrik Pedersen sent a header just wide.

Chelsea right-back Juliano Belletti also needed to be sharp in
snuffing out a Stephen McPhee chance as Hull took the game to the
Blues.

Geordie Stuart Elliott was next to threaten down the left with an
excellent cross and McPhee blazed another chance over. But once
Sinclair broke the deadlock, Hull's hopes of an upset were well and
truly crushed.

Hull: Myhill, Ricketts, Turner, Brown, Delaney, Okocha, Ashbee,
Livermore, Elliott, McPhee, Pedersen.

Chelsea: Cudicini, Belletti, Ben-Haim, Terry, Ashley Cole,
Wright-Phillips, Essien, Sidwell, Kalou, Sinclair, Pizarro.

40% POSSESSION 60%

3 SHOTS ON TARGET 11

7 SHOTS OFF TARGET 1

2 OFFSIDES 5

5 CORNERS 13

11 FOULS 16

1 YELLOW CARDS 0

0 RED CARDS 0

AT TENDANCE: 23,543

Man Of The Match: Kalou
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