Gregg Ernst is credited with lifting the heaviest weight by any human. Two Ford Festivas including the drivers weighing 2,422kg in total, for those curious, with the Canadian, now 62, having warmed up for that record in 1993 by balancing two oxen on his back.
Someone ought to alert the adjudicators at Guinness World Records to the carrying that is being conducted by a 21-year-old Englishman at Stamford Bridge.
Cole Palmer has taken the tonnage of Chelsea Football Club on his shoulders this season and, thankfully for a stretched medical department, their £42.5million summer signing has shown no signs of buckling under the strain.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted after this disappointing draw that when his team have nowhere to turn, their solution is to ‘give the ball’ to Palmer.
Palmer’s back strength is in spite of a few Chelsea fans suggesting this was a ‘spineless’ showing against Burnley, who had to play the second half without defender Lorenz Assignon following his second yellow and manager Vincent Kompany after his red card for protesting.
Chelsea twice surrendered their lead against 10-man Burnley at Stamford Bridge on Saturday
It was a disappointing afternoon for Mauricio Pochettino, who cut a frustrated figure
Cole Palmer scored twice but the Blues were pegged back twice by the ten-men Clarets
Mauricio Pochettino accused Chelsea of lacking the head and heart required to beat Burnley
Palmer gave them a 1-0 lead — a penalty from which he confirmed his status as the coolest man in Chelsea as he produced a Panenka after waiting four minutes and 19 seconds for the refereeing team to get their act together — then the 10 men of Burnley made it 1-1 via Josh Cullen.
Palmer made it 2-1 when substitute Raheem Sterling flicked the ball in behind for him to apply the finish, only for the visitors to equalise again through Dara O’Shea.
It would be harsh to say the weight on Palmer includes more passengers than Ernst in those Fords. Chelsea’s young players are trying to compete, but there is no escaping the naivety in the way they have surrendered leads in each of their last five home games.
Right now, Palmer is one of a few making a ticket to Stamford Bridge appear less doomed than the one Abraham Lincoln picked up at the box office of the aptly named Ford’s Theatre.
Palmer carries a calm demeanour, as if nothing irks him and never will, but speak to those who know him and they say he is not afraid to speak his mind.
He was frustrated after seeing his side blow those two leads to Burnley, fronting up for the TV interviews while not hiding his disappointment in the dressing room either.
Neither did Pochettino, who is usually a picture of serenity post-match. Here, he accused his players of lacking the head and heart required to win this match.
‘He scored twice and he is a good example for the rest,’ Pochettino said of Palmer. ‘From day one, he took responsibility for penalties, for the game. When you see the team struggles to find solutions, they give the ball to him to solve.’
Burnley manager Vincent Kompany was shown a red card for protesting during the first half
Burnley never gave up, perhaps sensing a fragility in Chelsea.
Even with 10 men, they created chances, with Cullen’s strike the best of the bunch.
Kompany avoided the media in the aftermath of his red card, instead leaving it to assistant Craig Bellamy, who suggested the league’s youngest team are getting to grips with the challenge as we enter the season’s final stages.
