Stand by your man

After a Stoke City steward, in pursuit of a few minutes of fame, had filed a rather fanciful complaint against Diego Costa for "assault" to the referee on Saturday night, the tunnel area was a hive of activity.

Chelsea's later statement that they believed the claim to be "utter nonsense" seemed entirely in keeping with their feelings of indignation on display outside the changing room.

Officials worked tirelessly to bring a sensible, swift end to a spurious complaint, in the hope of avoiding another bunch of negative headlines, which on this occasion would have been entirely unwarranted.

They requested the steward in question to review the footage with the referee and "do the right thing". He refused, deciding to stay away in some other corner of the stadium, surely knowing by now that he was all over social media.

I've seen it. You've seen it. I cannot say for certain what happened but I can say that there was no "assault".

But this is not what struck me. What caught my attention was the club working as one to overcome an adversity, desperately grafting to prevent more problems.

Chelsea players have been accused of not playing for the manager, the hierarchy have been accused of not providing him with the resources he craved in the summer and Jose Mourinho has been attacked for his constant and often grating fascination with referees.

Saturday night produced a display of unity, on and off the field. Yes Chelsea lost, but if you have seen them throughout the season you will have seen the incremental improvements that suggests a change of fortune cannot be far away now.

They are playing with more purpose. They need to be a lot more ruthless - they aped Arsenal at their worst at times by searching for the perfect goal at the Britannia Stadium - but they appear more together.

No more was that in evidence than in the bowels of Stoke City's stadium. Sadly, Mourinho wasn't there to see it.

They are HOT Spurs

The twitter app pinged last Friday afternoon with a new mention: "There are some terrible pundits around, just heard @sammatterface suggesting Spurs would win at Arsenal. With their record? Ridiculous."

Driving back from Villa Park in the constant rain, negotiating the cars with drivers that only seem to come out on the seventh day of the week, I listened intently to John Murray's description of the North London derby.

Later I reviewed the game back on television. Spurs were the better team and they deserved to win. If only they hadn't tired towards the end and maybe that elusive win at Arsenal would have been nabbed.

Arsenal defended poorly for the goal, but boy did Harry Kane bury it with the accuracy of an Olympic archer. His return of six goals in four games has certainly put paid to his doubters.

Tottenham's doubters are disappearing too, and a word of advice for the twitterati: The only thing terrible about football opinions is when you have an absolute belief that yours is the only one that matters.

Don't snooze off

Football commentating is not all as glamorous as its looks or sounds. There are endless car journeys, or trips away when everyone else in your family is celebrating a marriage, birthday or christening. Those small sacrifices aside, the job is the best possible employment in the world.

You don't always get it right, and you don't (despite the insistence of some!) get it wrong every time either. Some games are wonderfully thrilling and others are so dull you end up counting the minutes until it is put out of its own misery.

I have so far, though, resisted the temptation to doze off. Unlike Chinese football commentator Dong Lu, who succumbed to sleep during the Champions League game between Real Madrid and PSG!

The poor lad has been fired, but I'm sure there was a reason for it! Time difference for one, and I always thought those teams Rafael Benitez sent out were a little bit...only joking!

Out-Foxed

When I suggested that Claudio Ranieri would take Leicester City into the Championship, I based my opinion on his recent record.

He did okay with Chelsea but failed with Inter Milan, Parma and more recently Greece.

I was told recently he was only comfortable in a dressing room that did not have big egos and huge experience. If that is the case you can see why he is excelling at Leicester.

Long may it continue.