COMMENT: Good. GOOD! It was good to see Thibaut Courtois dropped for the loss at the Liberty.
Forget the Swansea City result. For Chelsea, a statement was made with the Belgian's benching. It was the first significant decision made in the Antonio Conte era. And it spoke volumes.
Perhaps it simply slipped through. Or maybe it was a sign of how far the club has fallen this season. But Courtois' comments last week while away with Mark Wilmots' Belgium squad deserved greater scrutiny. They were a disgrace. Disloyal and self-entitled. Everything Conte will need to root out of this current squad if the rebuild is to be completed on schedule.
“I don't know [where I'll be next season]," Courtois said. “I still have a contract for three years so we'll see what Chelsea want too..."
Where's the loyalty? Where's the gratitude? Chelsea chose Courtois over the best goalkeeper in the club's history. From Jose Mourinho to Michael Emenalo to Roman Abramovich, himself. They decided Petr Cech could leave. The Belgian was the future. They put their faith and trust in Courtois. Cech would pull up trees at Arsenal, embarrass those who moved him on. But they could wear it, so long as Courtois held up his end of the bargain.
But at the first sign of trouble, instead of bunkering down, he talks about leaving. Incredible.
Conte has drawn his Blue line. And the Chelsea support should be pleased. The Italian wants players willing to put the club ahead of themselves. Guus Hiddink made the call on Saturday, but it was Conte pulling the strings. The timeline is significant. A day after Conte met with Hiddink at Cobham, the Dutchman was declaring he hoped to have a place on the Italian's staff next season. Twenty-four hours later, Hiddink was informing Asmir Begovic he would be starting at Swansea. The message had been sent - and all the way from Turin.
But this is the problem facing Conte. Yes, he needs to upgrade the present squad. But he also needs to rid his roster of the elements that hastened Jose Mourinho's demise this season. The Diego Costa case is the flashpoint. Conte wants to keep him. The striker is reluctant. But he has made it known he could be persuaded.
But can Conte be sure about the Spain international? The strop. The bib. These weren't actions of a man putting the cause ahead of himself. As Graeme Souness said last week, Conte faces a "monster of a job" at Chelsea. There's going to be stumbles along the way. How quickly you overcome those setbacks will depend largely on the character of the dressing room. Can Chelsea count on Costa when the chips are down?
As good as the decision was to drop Courtois, indulging Costa is simply a gamble he need not take.
It's a baffling one. With Italy, Conte has shown next-to-no tolerance for the self-indulgent. Mario Balotelli hasn't been able to get close to the Azzurri since the former Juventus coach took charge.
Now, Diego is no Mario. But if the Brazilian held an Italian passport rather than a Spanish one, you wonder if Conte would bother calling on him after this season's behaviour.
No matter what happens with Courtois, Costa, Oscar or Cesc, Chelsea fans can be sure that John Terry will be offered a chance to stay. Conte wants the club captain with him next season. He's made that clear from outset. The surprise, from his end of the table, is the lack of enthusiasm or insistence on the club's side that Terry be kept on. However, that's understood to be simply some lingering resentment from some at Chelsea over Terry's outburst in the New Year about his contract situation.
Conte entered a similar situation at Juventus when dealing with Alessandro del Piero. Like Terry, Del Piero was coming off contract when Conte was appointed Juve coach. But he was happy to keep the then 37 year-old on for another season. Del Piero helped Conte usher in a new golden era for Juve and they finished the campaign together with the Scudetto.
Terry will be offered a new deal for next season. And he wants to play on. It's just a question of whether it will be enough for him to keep the Chinese Super League waiting another 12 months.
On paper, the Conte era began with a defeat in Wales. But inside the locker room, after Courtois' axing, the message should ring loud and clear. In the Italian's world, you're either with us or against us. Nothing else.
INJURY TIME
Maybe it'll happen against Manchester City? At the Bridge, in front of family and friends? What better way for Ola Aina to make his Premier League debut?
The fullback was on the bench for Saturday's defeat at Swansea City, alongside fellow U21s Charlie Colkett and the impressive Kasey Palmer, nicked away from Charlton Athletic two years ago.
That new contract tabled to Aina remains unsigned. He can walk out of Cobham in June and has the pick of Premier League clubs to choose from. But a late season chance could be enough to convince the 19 year-old to stay.
At his age, no matter how highly he's thought of inside the game, Aina knows he needs to be playing. Its career crunch time for the England U19 international.
