THE lone sight of Teddy Sheringham trailing off at Highbury on Saturday reminded us that time waits for no man writes Richard Mulligan

With his side already two goals down, Tottenham's now ineffective former Manchester United striker was replaced on 65 minutes for Stefan Iversen.

The consensus over the past few years has been to suggest that Sheringham could carry on at the top level for longer than most of his peers as he has always relied on brains rather than pace and brawn.

Sheringham was born in Highams Park, London in April 1966.

Just three months later in Sardinia one Gianfranco Zola came into the world, and some 36 years on he is still kicking and screaming with the best of them.

The Italian will come face to face with Bolton's own veteran defence this Saturday, and will be hoping to continue his amazing return to form at the Reebok Stadium.

Zola, who attained 39 caps for his country and played in the 1994 World Cup and Euro '96, is currently top marksman in the Premiership having found the back of the net on nine occasions.

He already has a higher goal tally than he managed during the whole of last season, and turned provider last Saturday with a delightful angled pass to Celestine Babayaro for the winner against Middlesbrough.

Although he seems ageless at present, Chelsea's very own Pensioner admits that it is becoming more and more difficult to keep up with the speed of the Premiership.

He says: "I'm very high at the moment, but the goals have been a great reward for me as I didn't stop working over the summer.

"At present I have a big drive to be fit and play well, score goals and do everything possible to make the team win.

"You have to do more when you get to my age, and especially because the physical demands are so high in football these days.

"It seems worth it when the end result is a goal, but I must admit that sometimes when I'm running up and down the pitch it doesn't feel that I am in as good a condition as ever."

Boss Claudio Ranieri has described Zola as his "irreplaceable genius" who must be at the heart of any success that Chelsea can hope to achieve.

Ranieri says: "Zola is our most important player as he starts a new attack every time he gets the ball.

"He plays for the team and is always in the best position to receive the ball and pass it on quickly.

"He is a great example for the rest of my players because of the mentality and the passion he has. He wants to play well for Chelsea and he has a great relationship with the crowd."

There is a good argument for suggesting that Zola has been the catalyst for Chelsea's greatest period of success in their history, since Ruud Gullit signed him from Parma for £4.5 million in November 1996. He had first achieved notoriety when he replaced Diego Maradona as Napoli's main striker in 1990. He joined Parma in 1993, with whom he won the Uefa Cup.

Within months of arriving in England he had been voted Footballer of the Year as a series of spectacular strikes helped the Blues to their first trophy in 26 years when they beat Middlesbrough in the FA Cup final.

They would take a further FA Cup win in 2000 and the Coca Cola Cup in 1998 as the club stepped out of the shadow of their London rivals Arsenal and Spurs.

Their rise to prominence was confirmed by Zola's winning goal in the 1998 European Cup-Winners' Cup, and the side who had yo-yoed between the top two divisions in the 1970s and 1980s, came third in the league in 1999 - their best position since winning their one and only title in 1954-55 - inspired by 13 goals from the diminutive Italian.

The following year they were unlucky to be knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona at the quarter-final stage.

Things have been a little less rosy since then, as they have fallen well behind Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool.

But Zola himself feels that their fantastic start to this campaign - they are currently third in the table - can be maintained.

He says: "We have learnt lessons from past seasons when we lost to lesser teams and recently things have improved.

"There is a lot of confidence and a good atmosphere in the dressing room. We know we can achieve something and if we keep this attitude we will get a lot of satisfaction from this season.

"It would be great to get back to the days when we challenged the really top sides. In my time here we always seem to do well when I am playing well so I hope it continues."

Zola has just 18 months left on his contract at Stamford Bridge and may already be thinking beyond playing his days.

However at present the talented amateur pianist remains the key to Chelsea's success.

BRIDGE BUILDER: Gianfranco Zola is the key man behind the improvement of the Stamford Bridge club, says his boss