THE MAN standing by the Highbury dugout tomorrow covertly puffing on a Cafe Creme will be doing his best to feel relaxed. It will be difficult. This is the FA Cup semi final, and this is Chelsea, without a major trophy for 26 years. Even Kipling's view on triumph and disaster would be tested.

Graham Rix, the first team coach and Ruud Gullit's right hand man, knows that for all the work done by Glenn Hoddle in modernising the playing side and the dreadlocked Dutchman's ability to attract Gianluca Vialli, Gianfranco Zola and Frank Lebeouf, a glint in the trophy room would provide a more tangible tribute to the spectacular changes that have stirred the sleeping giant of Chelsea.

He also knows that the players are approaching this game in an unsettled frame of mind. Spineless league defeats to Arsenal and Coventry have dented their chances of a UEFA Cup place and led to frank finger pointing sessions in the dressing room.

Rix says players have had the semi final on their minds. But the result is that the team have put themselves under even greater pressure to beat Wimbledon, as this is now their only viable route to Europe.

So if will be with some trepidation, in fact, that tomorrow Rix returns to the ground where, almost 20 years ago to the day, he played his first game for Arsenal, hoping to bring his four years as coach and chirpy man manager to bear on the task of repairing team spirit enough to spark the side into playing at their captivating best.

He says he gets on great with the lads, though denies he is part of "a good cop, bad bop" act with the ruthless Gullit. Instead he describes himself as "a little buffer - though I've been called other things - between the players and the manager. Rudi was their team mate last year and now suddenly he's the gaffer who's got to pull somebody in and say you're not playing. And they get rather angry.

"So they come and say Rico, what the hell is happening, and I say `I understand, but you've got to understand what he's on about as well'.

"Sure, there's been things he's done that I haven't necessarily agreed with, but we chat about it, he tells me why he's doing it and I say, OK you're the man, do it. And I back him up 100 per cent.

"We've both been players and if you're not seen to be strong as a management team the boys will play on it. They're rascals."

Gull it is the gaffer. He talks before and after games and lays down the rather stark playing rules. Rudi's approach is, do it and you'll be rewarded don't do it and you won't play. That's it, basically," says Rix.

There is some scope for negotiation. With Rix anyway. "I have influenced him on occasions. As a manager you need that, somebody not just saying, yeah, you're right Ruud, all the time."

Doncaster born Rix enjoyed many good times in his 16 years at Arsenal, including lifting the 1979 FA Cup. He also won 17 England caps.

But remembering Rix from those days, the spindly legged left winger with a cloud of ginger hair, the cavalier spirit and bit of a lad reputation, is difficult to imagine him taking management responsibilities seriously.

But reputations can be deceptive. "From about 24 I thought, yeah, I fancy that, especially being a youth team coach where you can really influence players. I know I had a certain image but I listened to people and learned. When I got my first coaching job, here with the youth team, Liam Brady, my, mate, said: "Rico whatever you do, take it serious. And I have."

But it was Hoddle, a friend since England Youth days, who gave Rix that first coaching job in 1993 after his playing days had ended in France and Scotland.

Three years later Gull it made him his number two. "Surprised is not the word. I'd never spoken to him about the job, never had chats about football. He was a first team player, I was youth team coach. I don't know why he picked me and I've never asked him.

"But once I knew we were going to carry on playing the same way as under Glenn, I realised that being with the first team, working with someone like Ruud Gullit at a club like Chelsea would be a great experience. Being an ambitious sort of lad it was a step I had to take."

Rix and Gullit do not mix socially, "but at work we are on the same wavelength", which includes agreeing on playing with pass and dash.

"I love watching us play, I really do. If I didn't I probably wouldn't do the job. I know they give us a few heart attacks, but they're trying to do it the right way, trying to entertain the people. I'm not saying we're the best team in the league but when we play our football we're exciting and worth watching."

But if Chelsea are to go for the title next season, they need more consistency. Rix knows. "It's quite interesting," says the 39 year old. "I was a `do what you want to do' sort of player, but the biggest things I say to the lads are defensive. I really love clean sheets.

"We've got some very exciting players here and going forward I don't worry because they will always create something. It's when they haven't got the ball I worry. As a team we've got to learn a what if mentality. What if Mark Hughes doesn't hold off three defenders and lay off the ball, what if Zola doesn't beat his man. Are we in a position to cover that?

"We really do want to pass it and play but normally for half a game, for half a career, you haven't got the ball. So what do you do then? More often than not it's defending that wins you games."

There have been other problems: the loss through injury of the classy Dimitri Kharine and the defiant Michael Duberry Gullit's rift with Vialli. But the expectations at Chelsea have rarely been higher. And with more big signings expected next season it will get worse.

For now, though, there is a semi final to be won, what Rix calls "a nightmare game. One mistake and you miss a Cup final". After all the promise of Chelsea's season, that would be a nightmare.