Having stared into the abyss, amidst an unenviable relegation battle, to then becoming a UEFA Champions League winner. I’m not sure even Gary Cahill can begin to fathom the year he’s had.
At the beginning of the 2011/2012 Premier League season, many had tipped Bolton Wanderers to be amongst a dogfight at the foot of the table. With the top tier in English football becoming stronger and stronger, each and every year, there was no doubt this particular campaign would be the toughest the Bolton faithful would of have endured over the course of their 11 year stay in the league.
With the inevitable departure of their stalwart defender overlooking performances, speculation arose yet again, over the former Bolton player of the year’s future, with many household names rumored to be interested in acquiring the 26-year-old’s services. Bolton boss, Owen Coyle was quick to quash speculation, but then later conceded a move away, once his contract had expired at the end of the year, was probable.
Once the January Transfer window re-opened, the rumor mill was once again in full flow, with Arsenal and Chelsea looking to obtain the England defender, Owen Coyle had no choice but to resign himself, to the loss of Bolton’s stand our performer over past couple of years. This signified the end to Gary Cahill’s Bolton career, when a fee in the region of £7 million, was finalized between both Bolton & Chelsea. The former Aston Villa man thanked Bolton fans for their continued support throughout his time at the Reebok and labeled the club as the reason he broke into the England setup.
During the course of 2011, Cahill made half a dozen appearances for his country, ironically being paired alongside John Terry and having formed a solid partnership at the heart of England’s defense, many brandished Cahill as a replacement for an ageing Terry, with both sharing similarities, most notable there individual technical abilities and powerful heading prowess in both attack and defense.
Gary Cahill then made his first start for his new club under manager Andre-Villas Boas, in a mouth-watering 3-3 draw at home to Manchester United. At this stage his new club were in turmoil and having been thrown right into the thick of it, it took time for him to adapt. The 3-1 defeat in the Champions League away in Naples was a prime example of this. That particular performance was the last time Luiz & Cahill partnered each other in defense for a number of games.
Subsequently that result and an embarrassing performance away at the Hawthorns saw the manager that brought Cahill to West London, sacked. Assistant to AVB at the time, Roberto Di-Matteo, was then appointed interim manager for the foreseeable future. This in turn, spiraled the club into a run of form which saw Chelsea reach the FA Cup and Champions League semi-finals respectively, during that spell Cahill bagged his first goal for Chelsea at home to Leicester in the FA Cup and having scored that goal, Gary Cahill celebrated with a touching sentiment to his former Bolton team-mate Fabrice Muamba.
Having reached the FA Cup final, Cahill had a different kettle of fish to apprehend with, a home tie with the European Champions and in a 1st leg which had seen both Cahill & Terry show such resolute and resilient defending, it was then evident why so many clubs rated the young Englishmen so highly. But the job was only half done; an away trip to the Nou Camp was next for the Sheffield born defender and to think he was on the bench for Bolton at home to Macclesfield last August.
He had mentioned in a pre-match interview that the only time he had visited the Nou Camp was as a child on holiday and his ‘moment’ didn’t last for long, after being turned inside out by Iniesta, as most defenders do, his hamstring popped, resulting him having to leave the field of, much to the defender’s dismay. He then watched on from the sidelines, as his team-mates performed miracles to reach the Champions League final.
Following the match, Gary Cahill was adamant he would be fit for the final at the Allianz Arena and in a race against time, on the 19th May, both him and David Luiz restored their centre-half partnership by playing through the pain and performing heroics, to capture Chelsea’s first ever Champions League trophy by beating Bayern Munchen on penalties.
When the England defender signed for Chelsea back in January he was quoted as saying ‘it’s a dream to sign; this is a club which will challenge for trophies year in, year out’. I doubt even he expected so much, so soon and must still be pinching himself even today.
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Enjoyable article to read, what a great story Cahill has had!