Uncertain mood overshadows Chelsea

London: At Chelsea on Sunday, as at many other clubs over the weekend, it was all about Ray Wilkins. But in the background it was hard to avoid the feeling of change and uncertainty to come

Instead he was a warmly celebrated absence. Before kick-off a boisterous minute’s applause spilt out of its allotted time and into the space either side. A huge flag was unfurled across the Shed End showing Butch in his youthful Chelsea pomp, handsome and lovable (and meticulously coiffed), while a banner behind the other goal read “Ray was one of those select few. He knew what it meant to be one of us, a real blue blood”.

It would also probably be reaching a little to suggest the feeling of impermanence on and off the pitch chimed with the notes of farewell, of passing-through. But football is also a febrile business, a machine that runs on emotion as much as anything else, even in a time of profound structural change.

“You’re not West Ham any more,” the Chelsea fans sang as the game kicked off. It is an interesting philosophical point, although if the lesson is to beware of new grounds, of being sold a dream, of cutting the old familial ties, then it is a point Chelsea would do well to take on board themselves.

Even on the pitch there were reminders of a wider sense of royal blue flux. Eden Hazard buzzed around with intent and might have scored at least once. How many more will he get for Chelsea? It seems inconceivable that a player whose status as next-cab galactico-in-waiting is in danger of congealing a little will want to play Europa League football next season, or with a Europa League set of teammates.

Plus of course there is Antonio Conte, who prowled the touchline here in his sloppy Sunday blue nylon leisure suit. Conte has spent large parts of the season in the familiar posture of wronged superstar manager, another Chelsea coach whose only failing is the failure of others to spend adequately on his command, betrayed by the human clay at his disposal.

No change there then. Nothing succeeds like success and while managers have passed through and Chelsea have continued to hoover up trophies it has been tempting to spot a method in all this: the rise of the disposable coach, there to be wrung out and shunted on by the Greater Project.

This time around it feels a bit different. That long-standing core of relentlessly motivated players has more or less dissolved. Money is already being sucked into the new stadium. What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow out of this mix-and-match leftover of a champion squad?

It would of course, be very Chelsea to bounce back as title contenders again next season under Luis Enrique or Massimiliano Allegri or whoever they can lasso in through the door. But on a day for goodbyes it was hard to avoid the feeling of uncertainty to come, and of changing times even at the ever-changing Bridge.