Chelsea Goalkeeper Chat"

Does anybody remember when Chelsea Football Club had two world-class keepers?

It was only last summer wasn`t it?

Petr Cech and Thibaut Courtois were both on our books and everything looked rosy.

Then came the kerfuffle whereby Cech openly admitted he wasn`t prepared to play second fiddle to the young Belgian and wanted to leave Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea, taking into account Cech`s service record, agreed and foolishly let the Czech keeper join our London rivals Arsenal.

Now in need of a decent back-up to Courtois, Chelsea persuaded the excellent Stoke City keeper, Asmir Begovic, to make the move to Stamford Bridge.

Begovic arrived intent on pushing Courtois all the way and wasn`t of the opinion that he would spend the season as a deputy.

Matters were then influenced by the fact that Courtois picked up a bad knee injury and was side-lined for several months.

Mourinho, still at the helm, decided to bring in another keeper, Amelia, the whereabouts of whom are still questioned with the Italian never actually making an appearance.

Meanwhile, despite having to keep goal behind a shaky defence, as soon as Courtois was fit Begovic was dumped back to the bench.

But Courtois familiar presence between the sticks wasn`t there, the aura that surrounded him seemed to have diminished with the knee injury.

Last Saturday, at the Liberty Stadium, Hiddink decided that Begvovic would be the better option, as Chelsea slunk to their first Premier League defeat since Hiddink returned for his second spell as our boss, albeit in an interim role.

Behind the scene, rumours have been rife that Courtois wants out, that the talented Belgian fancies a return to Spain, with Real Madrid.

Meanwhile, it appears that Begovic is none too happy as well, seeking assurances that he will be first choice next season, assurances that have not been forthcoming.

Which leaves us staring at a scenario whereby we are up that proverbial creek without a paddle.

Like I said, does anyone remember when we had two world-class goalkeepers?