Roy Keane's transformation from midfield firebrand to unflappable manager has brought with it rich ironies. It remains somewhat incongruous to hear the former Manchester United captain complain that the big teams get the big decisions. The same is true of his disdain for players who attempt to intimidate the referee.
Yet the Sunderland manager's subtle but stinging criticism of John Terry on Saturday did strike a chord with those who fear the Chelsea and England captain is allowing indiscipline to undermine his image. Terry is an old-fashioned hard man, a popular leader, a player who commands total respect. His development into the finest defensive stopper in the country is the foundation for Chelsea's success.
But he has snarled his way into an unwanted spotlight this season by confronting referees at close quarters and his role in Liam Miller's sending-off at Stamford Bridge did him no credit.
A drab, one-sided contest was approaching its end when Miller slid in clumsily on Terry. The two players became entangled but when they got up, Terry was indignant. He leaned his face in on Miller's and, when the Sunderland midfielder retreated, Claudio Pizarro got in on the act for reasons known only to himself. Pizarro raised his knee at Miller, the Irishman foolishly shoved his hands into Pizarro's face and the referee, Peter Walton, brandished his first red card of the season.
Terry, though, was not finished and he leaned in again on Miller to offer some final insults. The subtext to Keane's ensuing comments towards Terry was: "Who do you think you are?"
"Clearly you're not allowed to tackle the England captain, because there was a big issue made of it by himself and Pizarro," said Keane. "They've come over and had a go at Liam when it was obviously a foul but that was it. There was no nastiness to it. It was the last minute and Chelsea had won the game.
"The referee could have stepped in five seconds earlier because the reaction from John Terry and Pizarro disappointed me. Once you raise your hands, and I have been known to do it myself, you give the referee a decision to make but I thought it could have been avoided. There was certainly an over-reaction from Chelsea players to the tackle by Liam, there's no getting away from that."
Jose Mourinho, Terry's previous manager at Chelsea, was on record as saying that the central defender ought to use his status to gently influence referees. Mourinho noted that Ronaldinho, the Barcelona superstar, was never far from the referee and although the smile never left his lips, he would nag away at the official and sometimes gain an edge.
Terry's manner is rather more up front and his temper has got the better of him in recent months. He led a posse of Chelsea players to Andre Marriner at Derby County last month after the referee had sent off Michael Essien and he snatched at the red card Mike Dean showed to Mikel John Obi at Manchester United in September, during another mass confrontation.
Miller trudged off in a straight line towards the Sunderland bench but, at the last moment, changed his course to give Keane, standing and glaring, a wide berth. Keane admits that the pressures at the bottom of the table are more acute; the Premier League is waiting for him to erupt. He continues, though, to betray no trace of his playing temperament and he was measured in his post-match assessment. "The penalty [for Danny Higginbotham's shirt tug on Alex] certainly killed the game for us," he said.
Avram Grant denied that he wore black to lament the absence of Didier Drogba, who has undergone surgery on his troublesome knee well in advance of the African Cup of Nations, much to the relief of the Ivory Coast. The striker is now unlikely to play for Chelsea until after the tournament, which finishes on February 10.
"Did you ever see me not wearing black," asked the Chelsea manager, who could be cheered by a sharper performance from Andriy Shevchenko. The Ukrainian headed the opening goal, his fourth of the season, and has the rest of the month to convince the club to persevere with him and not go shopping in the January sales.
Grant insisted he had a "title- winning dressing room". Chelsea's immediate task is to stay in contention without Drogba when much tougher tests than Sunderland will present themselves.
Man of the match Juliano Belletti
Sunderland massed behind the ball but the incisive Brazilian full-back initiated some of Chelsea's best moves.
Best moment Cross-field ball that dropped perfectly for Salomon Kalou. With John Terry blocking Greg Halford, Kalou crossed for Andriy Shevchenko to head home.