Wilkins a good choice for Chelsea?

In a widely reported and expected move, Chelsea have appointed their former player Ray Wilkins as assistant first team coach after the long time job holder, Steve Clarke joined Gianfranco Zola at West Ham.

The fifty two year old former player, coach, manager and TV Pundit will assist Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari, after being out of the game since he was moved out of his coaching role within the England set-up last year.

Rarely passed forward

I like Ray Wilkins. He was a fine player although rightly criticised for rarely playing the ball forward. That was a criminal offence because with the passing and shooting ability he possessed, he should have been much more of an attacking threat than he often was.

As a TV pundit he speaks a great deal of sense but does so in a monotone voice that invariably sends me to sleep. I want to listen to him but I find it so hard to do so.

Captain at eighteen

As a manager, Wilkins has never managed to live up to the standards of his playing career which saw him make one hundred and ninety eight appearances for Chelsea. He was made captain at just eighteen years old. He moved on to Manchester United where he won an FA Cup winners medal and scored one of the best FA Cup final goals. He also won eighty three caps for England.

His managerial career consists of two very short spells in charge of QPR as player-manager in 1994 and Fulham in 1997. At Fulham he was sacked after guiding the side to the play-offs, but losing the last three games of the season.

Assistant to Vialli

As a Coach, he worked alongside Gianluca Vialli at Chelsea between 1998 and 2000 and then again with same man at Watford in 2001. He moved on to be assistant to Dennis Wise at Millwall where they reached an FA Cup Final.

As a Watford fan I can say without fear of any contradiction that the time the pair spent at Watford was an unmitigated disaster. Elderly players from at home and abroad were bought in for high prices and exorbitant wages. A squad of one keeper, four defenders, two strikers and seventeen midfield players was assembled and the team played some intricate football from side to side in their own half.

Wilkins shares the blame

It was dreadful to watch and the club is still to recover from the financial damage that was done during that time. Most Watford fans blame Vialli, who’s name is censored as a swear word on the Watford fan forums, but Wilkins was with him and he must share the blame.

Despite that, as I’ve already said, I like him. He seems like a genuinely nice bloke and any other people in football who talk about him all agree that he is an all round football legend.

Popular choice or good choice?

The thing that worries me is that the move has been made with a view to being popular rather than on any basis of him being the right man for the job. You only need to ask Mike Ashley if that is a good idea!

There seems little in Wilkins’ record that makes him the man to join the Scolari revolution and take this exceptional side on to the next level. Steve Clarke was like part of the furniture and with him and the other Chelsea hero Gianfranco Zola turning up on the other side of London, I just wonder if the club felt they needed to appoint someone who would go down well with the fans.

Man in charge

Scolari seems to be a man who is very much in charge and runs things in his own way. He has lots of people around him who he trusts and respects. It is unlikely that he would have anyone given to him that he didn’t want, so one has to assume that he was in full agreement with this appointment.

It will be interesting to see just how much influence the role of assistant first team coach actually has on the coaching, style and team selection. My guess is that it will be minimum.

Could we have our money back?

Good luck to Wilkins at Chelsea, I hope he succeeds. Maybe he could get Abramovich to give the money to Watford that he and his mate Vialli squandered so spectacularly when they were there!