TERRACE TALK: Chelsea - Blues bottlers have already thrown in towel

I was tempted to pull out last week’s piece and resubmit it, given the fact that we saw the same defensive errors, the same blunt strike force, the same lack of movement, the same lacklustre performance.

I’m even bored of writing about it.

You could reasonably argue that perhaps the players, just like the fans, want rid of this season and are simply going through the motions, with a view to a fresh start in August. But these players are paid obscene amounts of money to give their all whatever the circumstances. They cannot decide to chuck the towel in at this stage: they owe the club, they owe the fans.

But character and attitude-wise — with a few exceptions — this lot are probably the worst we have ever seen at Stamford Bridge.

Did we really reject £58m for Oscar? Really? Has anyone actually checked that he has a left leg? He could have actually potentially won us that game on Saturday by simply swinging his other leg. Is it too much to ask that a professional footballer who earns enough money to pay off the national debt of small African country can kick with both feet? Obviously it is.

Then there’s Courtois — gone from being rated the best goalkeeper in the world, pursued by the likes of Real Madrid and PSG — to a shadow of his former self. A keeper that half of the Stamford Bridge faithful do not trust to catch the most basic of shots. As well as the obvious frustration of letting Cech go,

I’ve heard quite a few conversations stating that Bergovic would be preferred between the sticks. But who can blame Courtois for being a bit erratic, given the woeful defence in front of him?

I had my doubts when we signed Cahill, then a few months of playing alongside Terry we saw a marked improvement — but never really to the level that a top-four club would need and expect.

And when he doesn’t have Terry next to him (and sometimes, even when he does), he looks amateurish at times. We as supporters have been used to a rock solid defence for so long now, that this season seems an abomination.

What worries me is that Conte is allegedly saying that we only need a couple of players. We need more than a couple of players just for our defence!

The way we’re going, it looks like we may even miss out on the Europa League — some see this as a blessing but others feel any sort of European football would be better than none. Then again the Europa by its very nature isn’t your elite — do we really want to be facing Eastern European goat-herders and bank clerks?

I think a season away from European football altogether would be the way to go.

It will really bring home to the players what they have done, it’ll give the new manager time with the team without the pressure of European football.

Even then, this may not be enough. There is so much more competition these days in the Premier League from clubs that five years ago were no more than also-rans.

And that’s before you even consider the miracle makers like Leicester.

In many ways, this next manager will have the hardest job of any Chelsea manager that has gone before him. Huge expectations, a squad with a multitude of issues, a very expectant owner and a chasm to make up.

Let’s all hope he’s up to the job.