TERRACE TALK: Chelsea - It’s good to know there’s life in the old dog yet

I have to say that when the half-time whistle went I was more than a little depressed.

The goal we conceded exposed how poor we are defensively as well as exposing Courtois and his propensity to come out too slowly at times. I also doubted this team’s passion and will to win — I thought that had gone, but It’s good to know that there is life in the old dog yet.

The win and the way we comprehensively played Southampton off the park for the second half not only pumps much-needed confidence through the team, but through the support as well.

I must admit that I had my doubts about Guus coming back for a second time. Nice guy and all that, but I wondered did he have the wherewithal to make a difference this time round. I feared the game had moved on and he hadn’t moved forward with it.

However that has certainly not been the case. He is far more tactically astute than I would have given him credit for and nice guy he may be, but he can be hard when he needs to be.

He knows he is only here until the end of the season, so he doesn’t really need to make friends or establish relationships. He can be ruthless. You make a mistake and you are subbed as Baba Rahman found out. When questioned about that substitution, Hiddink took no prisoners and confirmed it was down to the error. Some may think that is harsh and won’t do much for the confidence of the young Ghanaian, but we cannot carry anyone especially if they are making stupid mistakes.

Mourinho kept faith with too many under-performing players — Guus doesn’t look as if he is prepared to make the same mistake.

The defence as a whole is going to need some major surgery no matter who comes in the summer. It is looking increasingly like Conte. Italian managers are well known for establishing a rock-solid defence before anything else and it will be interesting to see what Conte will do when faced with the current crop.

John Terry is very highly regarded in Italy, so I do wonder whether the Italian will look at reversing the club decision to let him go. I can’t imagine he’ll be too keen to keep a left back whose forte is not his defending and as for Ivanovic and Azpilicueta — two players who have played recently out of their natural position — well, I’m not sure how he will take to that.

All that said, how much of a fighting fund is he going to be given? There are other areas of real concern on the pitch so buying a whole new defence wholesale seems very unlikely.

Most Chelsea managers recently have come into a situation where they had a pretty good squad going through a short-term blip. Conte will inherit a side with players near the ends of their careers, and at least three players being courted by giants of the game offering Champions League football. Add a handful of talented youngsters whose true worth is not yet really established and a couple of players who really aren’t very good at all and it’s not exactly the best hand ever dealt.

It will also be pretty interesting to see how this group of players take to someone like Conte, given they apparently thought that Mourinho was too hard on them. Conte does not mince his words — many who have played under him say he is aggressive, passionate, and will not stand for any sort of mutiny.

His training sessions are reputedly extremely hard and will push the players’ endurance to their very limits. I have to say, I have little sympathy and if I were to hear any unhappy mutterings coming from the playing staff I would whip out The Jam’s ‘Going Underground’ and put the following lyrics on loop: “You’ve made your bed, you better lie in it.” Well said, Mr Weller.