Chelsea a disgrace and repugnant

Jose Mourinho was on the money.

Chelsea were a disgrace, a wretched shower of incompetence.

Oh, they were not a disgrace in any real, meaningful sense. Murderous dictators are a disgrace. Third-world debt is a disgrace. Simon Cowell's high waistbands are a disgrace.

No one died or succumbed to famine at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, so do not assume all perspective has been lost after a weekend of extraordinary FA Cup giant-killings.

But in sporting terms, Chelsea were a disgrace, practically repugnant.

There was something deeply unattractive about the Blues' lack of fight against such mediocre minnows (Bradford are seventh in League One).

That made the 4-2 fourth-round defeat of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich's playthings all the more satisfying (and Manchester City losing on the same day felt like Christmas, Hari Raya, Deepavali and Chinese New Year all at once), but no less irritating.

In the same way that a pasar malam second-hand phone trader should not outsmart Apple CEO Tim Cook at an IT conference, Chelsea should not have lost this game under any circumstances.

The Blues dominate the domestic transfer market, along with the muddled men from Manchester.

BULLY

They artificially inflate the cost of homegrown talent. Like a bully tilting a pinball machine, they have created the least level playing field in English football history.

The ball always rolls their way.

So Chelsea's pre-game sense of entitlement was somewhere between patronising and offensive. Mourinho's "disgrace" comments were not necessarily inaccurate, but deeply disrespectful and unnecessary.

As the old song goes, teams like Bradford are s***. They know they are. That doesn't mean they want to be reminded of their second-class status from Mourinho like a wine-guzzling Roman Emperor reminding the poor how poverty-stricken they are.

The Chelsea manager was magnanimous in defeat. But he was mean in the build-up. He thoroughly deserved what came next.

So did his awful players.

Mourinho's decision to make nine changes didn't contribute to Chelsea's downfall. It was that entrenched sense of entitlement. There was an assumption that victory was assured, that the rich would prevail over the poor, no matter how indifferent or inept the performance.

Of course the harsh financial reality favoured the home side. The men on Chelsea's bench alone came with a collective £99 million ($199m) price tag.

Bradford were filled with freebies. Only one player was signed for cash. James Hanson joined for the princely sum of £7,500.

John Terry expects a larger fee to escort corporate suits around a private tour of the dressing room.

Money talks, but desire screams loudest. Bradford's endless industry silenced Stamford Bridge and shamed the home side.

Chelsea's spine included Petr Cech, Gary Cahill, Oscar, Cesar Azpilicueta, Ramires, Didier Drogba and Loic Remy, men blessed with international or World Cup experience and showered with silverware.

Cahill and Azpilicueta cantered as the Bantams sped away on the counter-attack. In midfield, the Blues probed with all the conviction of an orthodontist's intern and the front pair did nothing except underline Diego Costa's incalculable value.

Chelsea's inherent arrogance was their undoing, as it was for Manchester City, Manchester United and even Liverpool to a degree.

For too long now, the Premier League has operated in a vacuum, isolated from the real world and bereft of common sense.

It's the self-proclaimed best league in the world, but seldom snares either the Champions League trophy or, more pertinently, the best players in the world.

Europe and South America's rising starlets have always dreamt of joining either Real Madrid or Barcelona, now scrawny kids from Cardiff harbour similar hopes.

EPL THE BEST?

It's not all about the Premier League any more and hasn't been for some time. Perhaps someone should tell the Premier League.

But then, Bradford made the point pretty clearly on Saturday.

The brilliant Bantams defied every stat, fact and historical tidbit. Before yesterday, Mourinho had never conceded four goals at home at any of his clubs across four European leagues.

Chelsea hadn't shipped four against a third-tier side since January 1958. They hadn't conceded more than two goals at the Bridge all season.

The Blues only had to guard against complacency, but they failed. They expected victory without valour.

They had the superior pedigree, but not the stomach. They brought a feather duster to a knuckleduster fight.

Cup killings always shock and embarrass. But this was an amazing disgrace.

LAST NIGHT'S RESULTS

• Bristol City 0 West Ham 1
• Aston Villa 2 Bournemouth 1