I think people who have supported Chelsea for a while will actually appreciate that this has infact been a good season for the club. Back when I began to support the club back in 1997, I could never have imagined us playing in a Champions League semi final, and back then, third place in the Premier League was a massive achievement - and in my opinion, it still is. Of course we can be disappointed after the way we were so cruelly knocked out of the Champions League, but we've stil got the FA Cup final to look forward to and if we win that, it will prove to be a very good season for us.
We've hardly hit rock bottom. Look at Leeds United, who are in a state financially. They've hit their rock bottom. They were in a Champions League semi final only seven years ago and only yesterday they lost in their play-off first leg to Millwall and have got a lot of work to do to battle back into the Championship. That's rock bottom.
I can understand your disappointment after the season started off with such promise and I agree that we can do what Barcelona have done and come back all the stronger, but when I began to support the club this is the sort of season I dreamed we'd one day have - genuinely challenging for one or two or even three trophies each term. In that sense, I'm happy, and I'm not willing to let our recent success in the Abramovich years allow me to become 'spoilt' as a fan and demand and expect more from each player. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing the players win games and lift trophies but you have to appreciate what we are doing now, other teams can only dream about.
Chelsea needs to become a long-term project once more, however. Sure, we can go and splash the cash but we need to develop a relationship with a young manager with fresh ideas who is willing over a period of one to two years to freshen up the squad, not just so we can continue to challenge for honours for the next couple of seasons, but for the half-dozen campaigns after that as well. But as it stands, I believe we have the foundations set - the foundations that can lead us into this 'new dawn' and truly dominate English football. It certainly is a very exciting time to be a Chelsea fan. It's good to support the club now because of the success we've had recently, but it could become even better...