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Discipline has long been one of the cornerstones of a successful dressing room in England. If John Eustace’s Birmingham City players did not wish the training ground reception staff “good morning” they were issued with a £250 penalty. Steven Gerrard implemented a variety of fines when manager of Aston Villa for players leaving flip-flops in the shower (£50), forgetting to bring a cake for a birthday (£50, Yaya Touré: look away now), leaving plates and cups on the dining table (£100 an item). When Frank Lampard replaced Maurizio Sarri in 2019-20, Lampard immediately introduced a series of internal disciplinary fines for first-team players. Late for training? That’s £20,000, guv. Failure to report knack or illness before a day off? That’s 10 large. Phone rings during a team meeting? One thousand English pounds, thank you very much.
Chelsea have again swapped an Italian for an Englishman and, while we’re not privy to the new disciplinary rules under Liam Rosenior, it turns out that “flirting with hacks over a move to Real Madrid” is not an unpunishable offence. Rosenior has had something of a PR problem since his appointment but for all his over-earnest, High Performance rhetoric in “protecting the culture” with his squad, Rosenior has managed the Enzo Fernández situation rather well. To recap: while on international duty with Argentina, Chelsea’s vice-captain teased that he “didn’t know” if he would be at the club next season (contract expiry 2032) and subtly elaborated: “I really like Madrid – it’s similar to Buenos Aires.” In what was potentially a very sticky situation, Rosenior’s strong reaction – publicly criticising (but not alienating) Fernández and dropping him for two matches – has since earned mostly praise from fans and the media, reasserted clear squad boundaries, and paved the way for both a productive one-to-one chat with Fernández (who was supportive of the team’s 7-0 FA Cup win last weekend) and now a full apology from the World Cup winner.
