I think it was the great Tommy Docherty, effervescent manager of more clubs than I'm able to mention, who first made me aware of the phrase, 'if your name's not on it…'
Roughly translated, for those givemefootball regulars who have never come across it, the expression means simply this…that if it is not destined to happen then it won't happen. Which brings me to the reason for bringing it up in the first place.
Asking Chelsea to come back from a 3-1 deficit to reach the Champions League Final wasn't really a 'big ask'. And the way Claudio Ranieri's side, and I applaud his selection of JFH and Gudjohnsen up front, set about their task I, like many keen observers, thought they would do it.
And when they eventually took the lead on the night I thought they were on their way and here I have to nail my colours to the mast. I disagree with what Martin Tyler, Andy Gray and Glenn Hoddle said about Jesper Gronkjaer's splendid goal. My description, not the pundits.
I remember thinking, as he cut inside and lined up his left foot on the ball 'he's going to try and curl this one in at the far post' simply because of the intense concentration he put into the way he addressed the ball, knowing he was trying with his weaker foot.
As for comments that he didn't even look up and was intending it as a cross, that's balderdash. He knew where he was in relation to the goalposts, and they weren't going to move, so his aim, and I think he was going for goal, was true and so was the desired result of pulling a goal back.
Back to the 'if your name's not in it…' reference. When Chelsea were squandering chances, I began to feel that Chelsea's name wasn't on it. The Champions League trophy, that is. But then, when Morientes, via a superb block by John Terry, hit the post, I started to think maybe Monaco's name wasn't on it either.
I was totally convinced of that when the striker, on-loan from Real Madrid, was through, one-v-one, on Cudicini and missed, what was for him a sitter, I thought Chelsea were on their way.
Unfortunately when Chelsea were cruising at 2-0, after 44 minutes, they forgot the golden rule of cruising - 'don't take your eyes off the road'. But they did and Monaco scored their crucial first away goal. I must confess I saw no handball and the picture I saw in my newspaper shows Hugo Ibarra with his right hand touching the post and his left hand virtually touching Cudicini, but the important touch was Ibarra knocking the ball in to rock Chelsea back on their heels.
Chelsea had enough attempts on the night to have won by a big enough margin to get through. They had seven shots on target to Monaco's four. If all 11 chances had produced goals Chelsea would have reached the final on a massive 8-7 aggregate. The reason they didn't was because an unfashionable club, I do hate that disparaging expression, was galvanised by a coach who was a top player and was lead by one of THE best strikers in world football, Fernando Morientes.
Discarded, not too strong a word, by Real Madrid, Morientes missed chances but never gave up. When it came to the crunch, his goal, Monaco's second, certainly crunched Chelsea, and his quality stood out. A quick wall-pass with Bernadi sliced through the Chelsea defence and Morientes fired home, maybe fortuitously, through Cudicini's legs and Monaco were on their way to the final.
The word is that Real Madrid don't want Morientes back. As he walks out in the Champions League final in three weeks time, and maybe more so, if he walks off the pitch with the European Cup, maybe he won't want to go back. The queue of possible alternative destinations will not be a short one for a player who should walk into any side in the world. Maybe even Chelsea, it's not as if Roman CAN'T afford him.
But whilst we should give credit to Monaco rather than question Chelsea's quality, there was a big plus to emerge from this game, for England anyway.
John Terry was a colossus, Wayne Bridge has to be England's left back in Euro 2004, because he can defend as well as attack and Frank Lampard was just awesome.
I doubt there has been a better attacking midfield player since Bryan Robson, and alongside Beckham in Portugal I can see Frank's disappointment at not contesting the Champions League Final compensated for by a different piece of silverware, come the summer.
