On the up side Ranieri is giving youth a chance. Witness the emergence of the excellent John Terry alongside Sam Dalla Bonna and Jon Harley...

This fundamental change in policy is a far cry from Gianluca Vialli's reign. Under Vialli a whole generation of home grown talent passed quietly out of the Bridge and quickly down the leagues. Their lack of success might vindicate Vialli's preference for mature imports but given the impact Harley, Terry, Morris and Dalla Bonna are having, the suspicion remains that Chelsea's lost generation might have done a better job then the stars who forced them out.

	Eddie Newton (left) was a Premiership regular (BenRadford/Allsport)

Eddie Newton scored the winning goal in the 1997 Cup Final. He only missed out on a call up to the England squad that summer because of a niggling ankle injury. The following year he won European Cup Winners Cup medals and Worthington Cup medals. He was highly rated by both Glenn Hoddle and Ruud Gullit. But not by Vialli.

Vialli replaced him with a World Cup-winner. Didier Deschamps looked great playing for France but spent the best part of last season falling over outside his own penalty box before moving gracefully and unmissed to Valencia in the close season.

Newton, meanwhile, various medals safely stored, had a disastrous spell at Birmingham and short stays at Oxford, Barnet and non-league Hayes. He is currently hawking his CV round the lower divisions looking for a job. He has only just turned 29.

Michael Duberry was perhaps the highest profile home grown departure. Frustrated because he was not getting a game behind Leboeuf and Desailly he moved to Leeds for £4.5 million - where he didn't get a game behind Woodgate and Radebe. He was being linked with a move to Charlton before a serious achilles problem ruled him out for the season.

Of all the Chelsea players to leave the bridge David Lee has perhaps gone the furthest. Capped 10 times for England U 21 Lee could play in midfield or as a sweeper. Unfortunately so could Glenn Hoddle and Ruud Gullit.

By the time Vialli took over Lee was behind Leboeuf in the pecking order and when his chance came to reestablish himself against Tottenham Sol Campbell broke his leg.

Lee put on weight and left for Bristol Rovers but not before earning the nickname of 'Mr Four Minutes To Go' and establishing himself as the player to make most substitute appearances in Chelsea's history (a record later broken by Tore Andre Flo).

Things in Bristol didn't go well and after unsuccessful trials at Hearts, Crystal Palace and Gillingham he managed to get four games with Exeter. Lee is currently enjoying a resurgence and decent climate playing for Parremetta Power in the Australian NSL.

Paul Hughes was another once promising youngster to fall from favour under Vialli, but he didn't go quietly, complaining to the press of not getting a chance among the imported stars.

Hughes was highly rated by Glenn Hoddle and remained involved under Gullit. Vialli was not impressed and after unsuccessful loan spells at Stockport, Norwich and Crewe (where he didn't get a game) Hughes was rescued by Hoddle and is currently playing for a contract in Southampton reserves.

Prior to this salvation Hughes - along with David Lee - enjoyed one of the shortest loan moves in history. Both were invited down to Bristol City and were anxious to impress. However on their arrival they were told to go and train with the reserves, something they were perfectly able to do at Chelsea, and so they went home.

Vialli had a particular distaste for home grown full-backs - disposing of a sackful of them in his short reign.

	Frank Sinclair (left) with friends - including the 1998 Coca-Cola Cup (StuForster/Allsport)

The career of Frank Sinclair has flourished in comparison to his former teammates. He won another Worthington Cup winners medal with Leicester last year but has been in and out of the team since Peter Taylor took over.

Left-back Andy Myers joined Bradford at the beginning of last season and made such an impression that he went out on loan to Portsmouth. Last heard of back at Bradford at battling for a first team place.

Another left-back was Neil Clement, the son of England and QPR full back Dave. He hovered on the fringes of the first team, making one league appearance in three years and having loan spells at Reading, Preston, Brentford and West Brom. He finally moved to West Brom in the close season for £500 000. He is playing very well.

One player who never quite got round to leaving but might as well is Mark Nicholls. When Vialli was asked two years ago why he never named himself as a substitute he replied 'because I am not the kind of player who can come on and change a game. Tore Andre Flo and Mark Nicholls can do that so I will pick them both ahead of me'.

These days Nicholls, just turned 23, continues to impress for the reserves but seems to have less of a chance of getting a game then Stevie Wonder. It remains unclear what he has done to earn the disdain of the club.

He has been on loan to Reading (successfully) and Grimsby and Colchester (not so successfully). He is playing out his contract at the Bridge, perhaps the last victim of Vialli's import policy.

Sam Parkin is a 19-year-old Chelsea striker. He has been farmed out this season to Wycombe (for whom he scored the club's most important goal ever in the FA Cup fourth round).

Even Mikael Forssell, who as a foreign import might expect to stay and play, is spending the year - very successfully, thank you - at Crystal Palace.

Of course none of them have quite set the world alight since their departures and a lot of Chelsea fans will tell you that to win the title Chelsea had to move onward and upward quickly.

But Chelsea haven't won the title. The nearest they came to it was 1998/99 when all of the above players were in the squad.

Any Chelsea fan will tell you that Vialli was and is a hero. A man of honesty, integrity and talent. but as they begin to rebuild a young team capable of challenging United and Arsenal again one cannot help but wonder if he that illusive missing ingredient had been playing together for the reserves all the time.