Chelsea's co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Lawrence Stewart spoke this week with the Telegraph. For the first time, they discussed at length some of the decisions they've made during their tenure. Of course, it was with a third party outlet that the pair offered their thoughts. We still have seen no in-detail sit-down with the club's media team. But hey, when in Rome...
And for those claims of independence, it just didn't ring in this piece. The cynical side of this column would say you'd get the same quotes through the club's media channels as what we read this week. Certainly there was no contrition. No real look at the errors of the past. No mention of the previous sackings and the personalities involved. No detail on the mistakes in the transfer market. No word on that to-and-fro between co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali. As a PR job, it was, well, perfect...
But putting the cynicism aside, Winstanley and Stewart's explanation regarding player contracts was a positive.
“Really, it is the biggest nod towards the ability to identify talent," said Stewart. "You’ve got to get that right if you’re going to put players on these long contracts and then it’s your ability to develop players and develop talent, and that’s one of the key things that we talk about internally, is to make our players better, across all of our teams.”
Fair enough. If you believe in the player. If you believe in the staff working with that player. Then why not put your money where your mouth is - literally - and make it an eight-, nine-, ten-year project? Certainly, such a policy should do wonders for the trust and belief between the club, the player and their coaching staff.
But for all that, it's still untested. And for this column, remains a ticking timebomb. Simply the law of averages suggests that amongst this current squad, there will be some personalities who will sit on their deal - or insist they be paid out in full - rather than accept moving on for lesser terms. It happens everywhere in the game - and that's involving deals running less than half what the likes of Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson and Malo Gusto are on. Why should Chelsea somehow escape the trend? As we say, it's admirable that they're backing themselves and those involved. But it's all pure speculation at the moment...
Which is what we also saw from Winstanley regarding Palmer. The director agreeing, when put to him, that the midfielder can win the Ballon d'Or in the future.
"No doubt he can, no doubt," was the reply. "He’s got a bit of maverick personality on the pitch, you can see that. You can see it in training, you can see it in the games. He’s got that ability.”
Less than eighteen months of football at Chelsea and he's Ballon d'Or contender? This wasn't pub talk. Or the stuff of streamers. This was coming from one of the most important men inside the club.
But beyond all the fluff, this quote actually demonstrated the change we've seen from Chelsea.
Would Jose Mourinho have made such a claim? Carlo Ancelotti? Antonio Conte? Ruud Gullit? No, of course not. They've worked with Ballon d'Or winners. They know what is needed to reach that level. There would be no way we'd ever hear one of Chelsea's former managers making such a claim. For the sake of the player. Even for the sake of their own credibility amongst peers. It just wouldn't happen.
But as this column has long stated, this is a very different Chelsea compared to those days and those great football men. Achievers. Serious achievers. Who know what is needed to win consistently at the elite level.
The interview with Winstanley and Stewart offered none of that type of credibility. Yes, results have turned. Yes, they can hang their hat on Palmer's signing. But there's always peaks and troughs in a career - and for a team. How will Palmer handle the inevitable form slump? Will Enzo Maresca have the ability to dig his team out the slide when it comes this season? And what happens if that slide lasts longer than expected?
We've seen how this management team operates when things get difficult. That it's currently all flowers and fairy floss suited Winstanley and Stewart this week. But we're barely two months into the new season. From what has gone on before, accepting that this 'new' Chelsea is on the right course is a stretch.