The reporter announces the awful news, "Ed de Goey has injured himself in the warmup, so Chelsea hand Carlo Cudicini a rare start."
You see, he had previously played for us for a whopping 190 minutes whilst on loan the previous season.
Carlo who? Oh he's Italian... what was his name again though? 13 minutes, pretty uneventful minutes if you ask me, and then Villa burst into life. Merson plays a delightful ball into Luc Nilis, who turns Lebouef before smashing it past the hapless Cudicini. Oh dear...
Carlo would remain as goalkeeper for much of that season, although I never really took much notice of his performances- after all, we were having an awful season anyway. I do however remember a game at Stamford Bridge versus Sunderland in March of 2001.
Carlo had an absolute nightmare, attempting to make saves as if he were a volley ballplayer! But Claudio persevered with him until the end of the season. But that summer he suffered a knee injury whilst walking his dog. Oh dear...
Ed de Goey started the season as number one, pretty much by default... but then got injured. Mark Bosnich came in, played like a man possesed... but then got injured. However, we had a keeper waiting in the wings for his chance. "Didn't he get injured whilst walking his dog" pops into your mind as he is thrown into action with ten minutes to go at Goodison Park.
Apart from a clearance, he has nothing of real note to deal with. And for the next 3 games he kept the ball out of the net. And, after conceding against Charlton, he went 3 games after that without conceding. Hang on a minute!
Where's the volleyball player? What happened to Carlo who? For you see, the name on everybody's lips (when it came to keepers) was Carlo Cudicini.
And he hasn't looked back since! His last bad game, in my opinion (and only in the league so Spurs doesn't count!) came on New Years Day against Southampton. He has saved us so many times that I am beginning to wonder when his luck will run out.
But it isn't luck. He really is a top class keeper. And how much did he cost? Just over £100,000. That's what David Beckham earns in a week (yeah, and the rest of it!).
Alongside Tore Andre Flo, he ranks as bargain of the century!
Now, I ask you to consider this. Given the choice, would you rather spend £5 million on Jerzy Dudek? Or how about £7 million for Barthez? Not a chance!
Now consider this... for £100,000 Carlo Cudicini has probably earnt us over 9 points this season. He earnt us all 3 at Charlton with a stunning late save from Svensson. His saves at Blackburn and Southampton earnt us another 4. His saves at Man City alone were enough to earn us a point, let alone all 3 which we eventually took! Saves at Spurs, Bolton and Everton have earnt us at least another 5.
Brian Clough once said that Peter Shilton earnt his Notts Forest side at least 12 points a season. How many will Carlo earn us come the end of the season...