Churchill lives

What exactly did Scott Parker say to the lads at half-time? Carlton Cole said after the game: "We were diabolical but at half-time Scott was inspirational. Scott was in the zone - I've never seen him like that. If you were there you would have had a tear in your eye."

"Scott Parker showed a lot of passion in the changing room and it spurred us on. We did not want to disappoint ourselves, the manager, our families and the fans. I know you could say that if you are a professional footballer then you should have that in you anyway, but sometimes you need your captain to step up like that."

It would be easy to criticise Grant for not inspiring us, but sometimes it’s good management to let an influential player have their say. Even Sir Alex Ferguson would often let Roy Keane lambast his team-mates and it seems Scotty had seen enough.

Parker realised we needed Winston Churchill rather than Winston Reid. You wonder what Chuchillian-style oratory Scotty came out with. Perhaps something like this:

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, (if we make the Inter-Toto)
we shall fight on the Chelseas and Stokes,
we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our goal, whatever the cost may be,
we shall fight on at the Baggies,
we shall fight on the training grounds,
we shall fight against the Anfields and in the Spurs,
we shall fight in the Hawthorns;
we shall never surrender! (unless it's at St James' Park)