The Chelsea press room was swimming in fortune cookies in a nod to the Chinese New Year and it was while West Ham were leading 1-0 that a colleague from The Times elbowed me to share the message written inside the one he had cracked open.
‘Failure is the beginning of great success,’ went the wisdom. It was much better than mine, something about Thursday being a good day, which cannot be true when you have the dentist.
But his? That felt fitting, particularly on Monday night at Stamford Bridge.
Not only for how Chelsea came back to win after Jarrod Bowen jumped on Levi Colwill’s error to leave them trailing, but for the belief held by Blues bosses that their policy of targeting the world’s most promising young talents will eventually prosper.