Deadline-day deals, a tournament a continent away, a refreshed Chelsea squad and a legend taking on a new challenge are the topics occupying the keyboard of Pat Nevin as he writes this week’s column…
The transfer window has finally been gently closed at Stamford Bridge. Slamming shut would seem an inappropriate description considering the limited movement this time round. Although fans do get excited about deadline day, and the TV media err on the side of agitated, hyper-ventilated mania, I always have a sigh of relief when it is over.Maybe that goes back to the days when I was a chief executive up in the Scottish Premier League when I was scarred by the stress of those times. There was always too much to do. Trying to entice a player at the last moment, getting agents to agree, making sure the other club is on board and possibly drafting in a lawyer late at night as well to make sure no mistakes are made, led to more stress than I cared for.Then there were all the people at the league and the FA who had to be contacted and on top of that, there is every chance that an interpreter will be on speed dial if the player is coming from abroad. Herding cats is a piece of cake in comparison.
This is usually all being done against the clock with the possibility the player could change his mind at the last moment. It is not unknown for another club or indeed an agent to try to hijack the deal or just muddy the waters and wreck everything at seven minutes to midnight. And if you think that is a few too many plates to be spinning, it is not unusual to be trying to finish two or three deals on the same day.Does this still sound manageable? Well as CEO, I was also doing all the other daily jobs and managing all the other problems while this madness was going on. So, the transfer deadline day can mean different things to different people, and I couldn’t wait for it to be over.That said, with the short break in the Premier League fixtures it has at least given us something to talk about. I was surprised how empty it has felt without the games coming thick and fast for the Blues. I managed to get my own footie fix by popping around my home country covering Hearts, Celtic and Dundee United. Tomorrow I will be at a quiet little derby match in Glasgow between Celtic and Rangers in a top-of-the-table clash. I will admit that going to this one will certainly help the withdrawal symptoms from missing Chelsea play, for a little while at least.The break also gave us a good opportunity to keep an eye on the Africa Cup of Nations. Clearly, we wish Edouard Mendy our best as his Senegal side have breezed through to the semi-finals where Burkina Faso await. With his team going well and one goal conceded in his three games following his positive Covid test, he has a great chance of returning to the Bridge as an African champion, which would be an incredible end to a phenomenal period for him personally.
I love watching Afcon and apart from the terrible tragedy of the crush that led to the loss of eight innocent lives, the tournament has been great viewing. An edited set of clips of the best goals in the gathering would be the equal of just about any tournament around the world over the last few decades.Even so, I still ache for our season to start again, even if some of the players will be aching slightly less now that there has been time for at least some rest.I reckon that rest will have done our squad at least as much good as anyone else in the league. With the injuries to key players and a decent number recently returned and not fully match fit, this has been an opportunity to get as many of them physically right for the run in.There was a good deal of stress on the players as we fitted more games in than some of our rivals, but we will reap the benefits of that as the season goes on. Had we only played 20 or 21 league games like Spurs and Arsenal instead of the 24 we have, then the fixtures squeeze later would have been horrendous, particularly if we do go deep into the Champions League and the FA Cup.There was a price to pay for Chelsea with a few points dropped during that period, but our challengers for the top-four spots will have to deal with that problem at some point and it might be when they have an injury crisis.
As it is, I can’t wait to start up again and Plymouth Argyle at the weekend may well feel the full force of a Chelsea team that has been straining at the leash for a couple of weeks. The positivity will still be there after the brilliant win against Spurs at Stamford Bridge and the joyous scenes around the ground as the fans bathed on the glory of their favourite result.
Hakim Ziyech will be desperate to show that his man-of-the-match performance was no flash in the pan, but Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner and Callum Hudson-Odoi will all be positively bursting to get into the side and in amongst the goals as the battle for those positions heats up.Many just look to Romelu Lukaku for the goals, but the performances of those others in terms of creation and scoring is maybe even more important. Add on top of that what we have missed in terms of chances created while Reece James and Ben Chilwell have been unavailable, then all those ‘second’ strikers will be expected to come up with the goods in this crucial part of the season. I suspect they will be fine, especially after the short break.Another chap who has had a short break and we hope comes back in great form is Frank Lampard. Anyone with any feeling for Chelsea Football Club will want to wish one of our greatest, if not the greatest player in our history, success in his new job at Everton. I have some skin in that game myself obviously with the Toffees being my other club and nothing would make me happier than them winning every single game they have left this season, except one! Good luck Frank, rest assured you get the usual reception when you come home.