... former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has hit out at Jose Mourinho’s criticism, insisting that the Chelsea boss is a “master” of the trade.
Jamie Carragher (talking to SKY Sports): "Things were happening that the referee cannot control.
"He cannot punish the ball boy that disappears, the people in the crowd that keep the ball or somebody that throws a second ball on to the pitch.
“Well maybe those ballboys were watching the game at Anfield last season when Jose Mourinho gave a masterclass in time-wasting.
“We covered the game and we sort of agreed with it. It’s part of the game, it happens, they had six minutes of added time at the end, it was added on, and it’s part of the game. As I said, he’s the master at it.”
My memories of Chelsea's time-wasting hit a new low back in October 1992 at Stamford Bridge.
We played there in the quarter final of the League Cup and with just minutes to go we were trailing 2-1.
Chelsea midfielder Dennis Wise went to take a throw-in by the section that housed the Newcastle fans and he took an age, and had the Toon Army tell him to "get on with it".
He then went to hold a conversation with the Geordies, who were hemmed in by a massive fence, and wasted another 30 seconds by shouting at us "so you want the ball?" and threw it to the back of our section.
Then the referee came over, gave him 'verbals' and booked him for time wasting. But it didn't stop there, Wise prorested and Rob Lee and John Beresford joined the arguments, and the whole scene took about 90 seconds.
The game restarted and the referee immediately blew the whistle for full-time!
We were conned by the biggest con man in the game.