Exclusive interview with Pat Nevin: A fit Reece James is a £150 million footballer, Noni Madueke to Arsenal is a cracking signing, Liam Delap can replace Harry Kane, Rangers have a 15% chance of beating Celtic to the title, Dominic Calvert-Lewin has similarities to Alexander Isak.
Speaking exclusively with BetVictor UK, former Chelsea and Everton star Pat Nevin has described Reece James as a £150million footballer – when he’s fit. Nevin has also explained why Noni Madueke can bring balance to Arsenal and why Liam Delap could replace Harry Kane before the 2026 World Cup with England. The Scotland icon has also given Rangers a 15-20% chance of beating Celtic to the Premiership title and how Dominic Calvert-Lewin has similarities to Alexander Isak.
Q: Does Liam Delap need to have patience with Enzo Maresca?
Pat Nevin: “The fact that Liam Delap cost about half what Joao Pedro did might make you think that he will be the second choice, but that isn’t necessarily the case.
“They will both know that the chances of two strikers playing together is minimal, but it can happen when they are chasing games.
“But on top of that, you’ve got the Champions League, if you’re Chelsea, you’ve had an incredibly hard summer. They’ve had very little break. There are going to be difficult times for various players. So there’s going to be a bit of rest needed.
“Liam Delap will think that he will be the number one and think that if he isn’t he’ll be patiently waiting to take his chance when he gets it.
“Delap is absolutely fine in that situation. Although if I’m absolutely honest with you, Joao Pedro’s got the nod at the moment, but it can change and he knows that.”
Q: Will Jorrel Hato replace Levi Colwill at Chelsea?
Nevin: “It’s been really difficult to get your head round Chelsea transfers. I was going to say for the two years that the current owners have been in, but let’s be fair, it’s longer than that.
“It’s probably way back to the Roman Abramovic years. It’s incredible what happens with Chelsea in terms of transfers and trying to read what’s going on is difficult for any player.
“Levi Colwill is still young. People forget that. Still really young. He’s grown every single year. I think he was one that they would like to keep around and one that they would like to play as much as they possibly could but we shall see if that’s the case.
“If a player comes in from anywhere on the continent and it’s an exciting name it catches the eye, but lots of those transfers don’t work out. Lots of them don’t manage in the Premier League, lots of them struggle to get a game.
“Chelsea may have, more than anyone else, gone through huge numbers of players so once again if you’re a player and it kind of doesn’t really matter what position you’re in, clubs are going to invite people in your position.
“It’s how you react. You can react by throwing your toys at a pram. I would suggest you don’t, trust yourself or believe in yourself enough.
“If that’s the case. You must at least give it a year to go and fight it, battle it, show that you’re the better player. Because remember, coaches, they are human too.
“Because they’re human they want to see your reaction and if your reaction is, well that’s a new player in my position, I’ve not got a chance. They’re actually going to rate you down for that.
“So go on, don’t worry, just get back in there. You’ve had a good time in Chelsea so far, you’re growing all the time and I think he’s a keeper.”
Q: Can Wesley Fofana get back into this Chelsea team?
Nevin: “For Wesley Fofana, I think it’s his injuries. When I’d seen him before, when he was injury free, he looked the real deal. He absolutely did look like the real deal.
“It looked to me like an intelligent buy from Chelsea, but with his long contract, it’s one of those ones where you wonder if it would work out.
“It doesn’t matter what your data says. You can have a lack of form, get injured, you just don’t know. You have a fair idea, and there’s some that are pretty close to certainties but I think he’s just been unlucky with the injuries and it’s tough for him.
“There are a lot of players around like that just now and I think we’re going to see more and more players like that just now because of the demands on players from a very, very early age and for entire seasons with no respite at all.
“So for him, he has to try and get himself fit, if that means going out on loan or something. Chelsea are a trading club, they are traders, so they want to get the money they paid or make a profit and they’ve been quite good at that.
“Noni Madueke is a classic example. But in reality, until a player shows that he’s been fit for a good period of time, it’s going to be tough to make money on him.”
Q: Wesley Fofana is contracted until 2029, is that a Chelsea blunder?
Nevin: “This is the danger, those of us who are a wee bit older and longer in the tooth did mention at the time when these long contracts were coming in.
“Nobody can see the future. For every youngster like Moises Caicedo that has come in and got better, we know that there are lots of players at Chelsea that have come in and done really well – but there’s probably more that haven’t.
“Then, if you’ve got someone stuck on a five, six, seven year contract. Unless you can move them on and get the money back, especially if you’ve spent big on them, it’s a risk.”
Q: Is Jadon Sancho’s time in the Premier League over for good?
Nevin: “The world doesn’t start and end with the Premier League, especially if you’ve been playing and you’ve had a better time in a different league, the Bundesliga is still a top league in Europe, it must be a temptation for him to say, that suits me.
“I think Jadon probably is more suited to playing with a top team in any league, getting games every week near the top of the league, getting more of the ball and you’ll get more service as a wide player or attacking player. You will look better.
“You could be in the same form but if you were playing for Southampton last year, tough luck. You’re not going to look that great. Or indeed in Jadon’s case, if there’s players in front of you and you don’t get games then people think you’ve not done that well.
“Have a look at his numbers, they’re okay. His numbers are fine. They’re not absolutely off the scale when he was at Chelsea, but they were fine. So he just needs to find the right home.
“If the reports are true, he’s going to take a big wage drop to make sure he can get games of football, I am impressed. It seems so unusual in the modern day.
“I applaud it so much because it wouldn’t have crossed my mind not to do that. I did that twice in my career. You’ve only got a short career. Enjoy it, love it. Is it about fame? Is it about how much money you can earn? Is it about the joy of actually playing?
“You need to ask yourself those questions. I knew the answer myself the whole way through my life. It was the joy of playing, that was it. Everything else was secondary.
“Okay, you may be on half, but hey, it’s half of quite a lot. You’ll be all right. He’s done well with transfers and moves already in his career. So if he is doing that and he is either taking advice or doing it off his own back, I applaud him.”
Q: Would Alejandro Garnacho be a good fit at Chelsea?
Nevin: “I don’t see Alejandro Garnacho as a great fit at Chelsea.
“Chelsea might do it to make money, but is he going to come and light up Chelsea more than Pedro Neto, whose professional attitude, his work rate he’s given for the team has been absolutely fantastic?
“There’s a whole bunch of other players in that position. Jamie Gittens has come in, Chelsea also have Estevao from Brazil with a lot of expectation, how many players do you need there?
“£40 million isn’t to be sniffed at, you don’t make that much more than that for getting into the Champions League and having a good run. Do you want to spend that on Garnacho who may or may not do okay?
“Also, if it doesn’t work at Chelsea and it kind of worked averagely at best at Manchester United, there’s no big profit there. So it would surprise me, but I am often surprised by Chelsea.”
Q: Would Chelsea have signed Alexander Isak if they thought he was available?
Nevin: “I think if Chelsea thought there was any real possibility of Alexander Isak coming to Chelsea, they may have gone there, but they know that there would have been a queue for that player.
“You have to remember, a lot of the time it’s about timing with a player. So it started with them thinking they needed a bit of help with Nicolas Jackson, who had difficulties and got sent off at important times. They needed a back-up there.
“So do they kind of go half-hearted in the hope that Isak might suddenly become available? I don’t think you can really do that. I think you really need to plan in a different way.
“So had he been available, at the start of the summer there, Chelsea would have been in, and maybe Joao Pedro and Liam Delap could have been left as secondary.
“The thought of actually going for Isak now Chelsea have got the other two, considering the money Chelsea have spent, I don’t get how Chelsea will do it.
“Chelsea’s business tells me that they’re either really, really good and really, really imaginative with finances, or else they’re taking a lot of risks.
“I’ll be honest with you, though, originally I thought that’s risky. That’s really risky. But they keep on pulling the rabbits out of the bag financially.
“In the knowledge that financial fair play rules are going to change next season and nobody knows where they’re going. It’s difficult to know or to see what you’re doing. Chelsea have bought a lot. They have been big spenders this summer, another quarter of a billion this time round.
“Again, I suspect they will try to offload as well. I suspect they’ll have to quickly, but I expect they believe that they can do that.
“In the end if it works and the trading works, which is the method, then that’s one way of doing it. As a Chelsea fan, half the time, I’m not sure I’ll recognise everybody.
“I’m a Chelsea man, but I’m going to have to research how all these new players play before the season starts. That is the same everywhere, but multiplied at Chelsea.”
Q: Could Andy Robertson leave Liverpool before the season has started?
Nevin: “I think Andy Robertson knows he isn’t going to be playing every single game. And indeed he hasn’t been, because Kostas Tsimikas was getting game time as well.
“Andy’s just more suited, much better suited when Liverpool are attacking. He’s a decent left back. He’s a brilliant left wing back, but he’s almost an even better left winger when it gets there.
“So in certain situations, particularly at home, and I know Milos Kerkez has got that as well, and he has got that, and he’s very, very good at attacking lines.
“But Andy’s got stuff to give you. The numbers are down massively from where they were for creation and things like that, but that’s as much the way Liverpool play as Andy himself.
“The system changed, the style changed a little bit and they went in different directions. And of course the players in front of you adapt how often you get forward. But in reality, time waits for no man.
“He’s facing a decision either this season or next season. And the decision is, do I want to stay here and get bits of games? Or do I want to move somewhere else? And there are lots of other places that would take him at the top level around Europe, in England, Scotland, Europe, Spain. They’d all take him, plenty would take him.
“You need to make a decision about what he wants to do. There are more players now, and don’t know if Andy’s one of them, that think, actually, 20 games a season is all right.
“Maybe he thinks that he doesn’t need to retire from international football because he’s still fit but not being run into the ground because it’s a hard position bombing up and down there all the time and he’s been doing it for a long time.
“In short, Andy’s got a decision to make now because his replacement is sitting beside him in the dressing room and he’ll know that.
“For footballers, there’s the old phrase, you rage against the dying of the light. They got there for that reason, because they would rage. And if I was to guess, I’d guess Andy would rage against it and fight it.”
Q: Is there a big concern over Everton’s summer business?
Nevin: “In simple terms there is a real concern at Everton. Now it’s not finished yet, there’s always brinkmanship and for the clubs that haven’t got a lot of money you’ve not got a choice, you have to take it to the brink and hope that in the last week or couple of days of the transfer window you get the ones that you’re looking for.
“Remember it’s not just other clubs refusing to sell to you, it’s the players that you’re looking for. They might be looking thinking, wait a minute, maybe Everton want me for sure, but what if Liverpool come in? So they want to leave it to the last second.
“A lot of players, their agents are saying, if I can get two clubs interested in you, then I’ll be able to up your figures. This is where Everton are. That’s exactly where they are at the moment. So they’ve got a battle on and they might end up weighing off and they might not.
“They’ve changed the acquisitions department. I remember talking to David Moyes. I went to his office back in the old days when he was first at Everton. He showed me the board where all the transfers of who he wanted were in the lists on the whiteboard in his office.
“So it was a list of names of who they would want, you know, one to five or six or seven or eight, ten, sometimes left-backs, right-backs, whatever, all around Europe and the world.
“He was very hands on with it and he knew what he wanted and he knew a lot of the players, that might not be the case anymore because managers don’t get that. Moyesy would love to be involved and he’ll have some involvement.
“But if they don’t turn up and they fail to get number one, two, three, four in those lists and end up getting five, six or seven. They’re not as good players and he’ll be really disappointed by that.
“You’ll be really disappointed and that’s the way the game has gone now. The acquisitions department is different from where it used to be. I think Everton are going to find out in the next very, very short while how good that department is.”
Q: Are Everton looking over their shoulders at the relegation battle?
Nevin: “When you look at all the teams in the league, how many in reality aren’t looking over their shoulders? You and you take the top names and you know who the usual suspects are at the top, They’re not looking over their shoulders, right?
“So Liverpool aren’t and Chelsea won’t be and Arsenal won’t be, right? Fine. Is anyone else not? Are many more not? I mean, if you’re Bournemouth at the moment, a great season last season. Fantastic.
“Really impressed how they’ve done, but they’ve just lost half of their back line and maybe more will go. They’re looking over their shoulders. I think if you’re Everton and they’ve got a crick in their neck, how much they’ve been looking over their shoulders for the last few years.
“David Moyes has done an amazing job since he came in. If you have a look at the league table since the day he came in, it’s astonishing, absolutely amazing.
“They’ve lost a few players and they need more in. So looking over your shoulder, of course you will be for a period of time if you have a bad start.
“Do I think they’re favourites to go down? No, I don’t. Actually, I’ve got absolute belief and not just because they’re my old club and I love the place.
“I have to say I’ve got real belief in David Moyes and I have always had. I rate him as a phenomenal manager and if he can kick and push and shove everybody, not just on the pitch but upstairs as well to get the right things done between now and the transfer window.
“He’s the right man for the job and I think they’ll be alright. I can’t wait for the first game, I’m going to the first game down at the new stadium and I’m pretty excited about seeing it and feeling it.
“Every time you go to one of these new stadiums, you think, is it going to feel right? Is the noise going to be right? Is the buzz going to be there? And it often isn’t at the start. But I remember my first ever game for Everton, I played my debut opening game of the season. It was at Goodison, we beat Newcastle 4-0, the noise was astonishing. I kind of hope it’s another one of those days again.”
Q: Should Everton go after Tyler Dibling or Jack Grealish?
Nevin: “Everton should go after Tyler Dibling over Jack Grealish. There’s nothing against Jack. I can remember I used to do analysis pieces when Jack was coming through explaining to the world why I thought he was one of the best in the business. I thought it was phenomenal.
“There were a number of reasons for it. Number one reason is I thought he was out and out of number 10. I didn’t see him as a winger at all. You really didn’t see him as a winger.
“There’s a slight difference between what a winger is and a wide attacker is. But Jack for me was, he was a 10. If you’re a winger, that’s your angle of attack. It’s 30, 35 degrees. That’s your angle of attack. If you’re a 10, you get everything.
“You’ve got the whole width of everything in front of you. You can see every single place. Your options are bigger. But you need to be able to see the pictures. He sees the pictures.
“But the same pictures aren’t there out in the wing. So if they buy Jack, you hope he’s fit, but you also hope that he’s still got that hunger and desire. Not just that you’ll see it, that he has it deep in there.
“The other thing you have to wonder is, is he going to stay injury free? So put all those things together and Jack’s brilliant. But there’s a lot of ifs in there, isn’t there?
“Dibling? Wow, what a player. What a fantastic player. His next move is this big one and we’ll find out if this is going to be a top international, which he should be, because he’s got everything you need.
“Absolutely got everything you need to be a top international but he needs to put it together regularly. So this is the big call for him. I think this would be the right one.
“If he did go to Everton and it went well, upsettingly it would only be a stepping stone. Upsettingly for me and every Evertonian, he can be that good and I think it would suit him well.
“The other thing on top of that is, I love watching players like that. So as an Everton fan, I want to see that. That’s what I want to see. I think if you look around at Everton and the squad just now, there’s a good bit of creativity there getting developed.
“Moyes was always known for pragmatic stuff, but there’s quality there now up in that front line or just behind the front line. So Dibling would add to that and of course Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall now.
“Either player would be great, both would be phenomenal. But I don’t know if that’s going to happen.”
Q: Would Stefan Ortega be a big improvement on Robert Sanchez?
Nevin: “Is Robert Sanchez secure at Chelsea? The word secure and Chelsea don’t exist in the same sentence if you’re a footballer.
“Sanchez’s place isn’t secure but I think his mistakes are being exaggerated. He’s not always brilliant on the ground. I think you want a keeper to be good with the ball at his feet sometimes, but it’s weirdly becoming slightly less important now.
“The game’s adapting again. The Pep Guardiola style has kind of fallen away a bit, it doesn’t have to be so slavish, always playing from the back and always being so completely and utterly set to it.
“So you’re looking for a goalkeeper who can keep goal as well and is okay on the ground, Sanchez is alright. If Chelsea change then he might not be.”
Q: Could Chelsea end up regretting the transfer of Noni Madueke to Arsenal?
Nevin: “They’re not wired up with Chelsea, it’s really strange. Back in the day when you saw the player and came back and he bit you in the backside. It’d be a bit embarrassing.
“Chelsea sell so many players now, you kind of don’t notice it anymore. There’s just too many out there. If you haven’t played for either Manchester City or Chelsea at some point there’s probably something wrong with you, you know, because they develop so many players.
“So it’s not a big deal. They look at it in numbers. The buy and the sale of Noni Madueke made Chelsea a lot of money. He was a good player for them. He’s an improving player.”
Q: How good a signing is Noni Madueke for Arsenal?
Nevin: “I think Arsenal have done the right thing.
“I think they’ve made some good decisions this season and I think Madueke is a cracker. £52 million as they say it is quite a lot. When Arsenal attack it looks as if the pitch is on a slope going down towards the right-hand side.
“Everything goes right. The vast majority goes to Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard and understandably so because they create brilliantly from there when they’re at their best. But that’s not healthy. You need balance.
“You need something that stretches the side. You need something where you think, well, it’s not working down there today, which it sometimes doesn’t. The other side has to be as good. Now, it’s nothing against Gabriel Martinelli. He’s a good player. I think Maudeke could be better.
“He can go left, he can go right. If Saka is injured, fine. Madueke can play on the right, he’s okay with that.
“You’ve kind of got two players. You’ve got cover for both positions and arguably a first choice for the left if he’s in top form.
“So well done Arsenal and if they can get the ball into Viktor Gyokeres, they’ve got a chance. They look to me better than they did at the start of last season.”
Q: Is this a make or break season at Chelsea for Reece James?
Nevin: “I remember chatting a year ago and people asking me about Reece James. I remember chatting two years ago and people asking the same question about Reece James. The question’s never changed. The question’s simple. Or the answer’s pretty simple.
“If Reece James was fit, he’d be worth £150million. He’s just stupidly good. He is that brilliant.
“There’s nobody like him. And honestly, I put him above Trent Alexander-Arnold. At his best, fully fit, he was unbeatable. His quality going forward was staggering. He looked like a man playing with boys most of the time. But it’s back to the injury thing.
“Had he been fully fit for the last couple of years he would be England’s definite fullback, 100%. I’m not even concerned. England are quite strong in that position, but 100 % it’s him.
“On top of that, he would be worth fortunes. Every club in the world would want him, but Chelsea wouldn’t sell him. Why would they? Because they’d be the best of the best. The problem you’ve got now is the injuries. Nobody’s going to pay that money for him.
“However good he is, if he’s only going to play 10, 15 games and don’t just look at last season, you’ve got to look at the last three or four. You’ve to look at them all. And it’s nothing against him.
“I was at Celtic Park the other day there, and Kieran Tierney at his first game back for Celtic. He was brilliant, absolutely light years ahead of everybody else on the pitch. And then he went off injured after 63 minutes.
“And that’s it. That’s all it is. And with Tierney, I think it’s just a bit of a cramp or something and you should be okay. But Tierney, like Reece, fully fit, absolutely everybody wants him. So that’s what you’ve got, Reece, now.
“Keep him around, well, it’s a lot of money to pay to keep somebody around just to get up the team. I’m afraid that doesn’t work. You need to be able to produce a product. I felt for the last two years, his position is going to be sitting in midfield.
“That’s it, because his body doesn’t want to do that flying up, flying up, flying up, down, which you have to do the right fullback position, wingback position, and also what he was brewing at.
So that kind of slightly deeper line, sixth position. Chelsea are so well, well covered in that position. It’s unbelievable. But James is as good as any of them. So it may well be that he spends a bit more time there.”
Q: Could Liam Delap have replaced Harry Kane with England before the World Cup?
Nevin: “I think there’s a high likelihood of Liam Delap replacing Harry Kane for England. It’s a real shame to be compared to Harry Kane. It’s a bit unfair.
“England have had a great run of centre forwards over the years but Harry’s been unbelievable. His numbers are incredible. You take the likes of Wayne Rooney to Alan Shearer. Top class centre forwards will score you lots and lots of goals.
“But they’re still quite rare. They are still unusual at every level. So England have been spoiled rotten by having Harry there. So when he’s gone, whoever comes in, I wouldn’t want to compare him to Harry Kane.
“It’ll be a slightly different type of player. Having said that, the closest you’ve got in style to Harry is Liam.
“He’s strong, he’s an identifiable number nine. But I think he’s good enough. I think the fact of his willingness, his hard work, he’s a natural goal scorer. That’s the big thing.
“If you’re a natural goal scorer, that really, really helps and think Liam is, is he as good a natural goalscorer as Harry? No. But who is in world football?
“If you’d have put him, when he was at Spurs, if you’d have put him in the Manchester City team, tell me how many goals he’d have been scoring every year, and he was scoring plenty as it was.
“So big shoes to fill. Delap, he’ll have challenges. There will be other systems he can play that don’t need an out and out nine.
“But I think he’s in pole position now and it wouldn’t shock me.”
Q: Is Steve Clarke safe in his job with the Scotland national side?
Nevin: “The pressure is there, Scotland’s a bit like that. If you’re the Celtic manager, the Rangers manager, or the Scotland manager it’s one game away from crisis. It really is one game.
“But the great thing is, and I know this, I don’t think I know this, the SFA absolutely love Clarke. They love what he’s done. He’s got them in two of the last three major finals.
“If he manages to get them into the World Cup, that’ll be three out of four considering Scotland haven’t been there for generations. Seriously, that’s the deal. That is the story. Though it’s been tough lately.
“There’s a couple of exciting new things on the horizon. A couple of the players are coming through. Scott McTominay has just burst through. Obviously, he was always there for us, but he’s wild for us now. Kind of taking the role that John McGinn and I’ve held.
“John McGinn held us together for years. This isn’t luck. Clarkie knows the people that need to do it. It was him that put Scott McTominay up there in a more attacking position.
“It wasn’t Manchester United, it was him. He figured it out. And that’s what he needs to do, get the best out of all these players. Young Ben Doak got injured there, but he’s made a massive, massive difference to Scotland. So there’s hope there as well.
“We’ve got a tough group of games coming up, but then we always have. There’s one or two other young players that you need to keep an eye on. Kieran Bowie is one of them that I hope stays at Hibs.
“So there’s players coming through and that’s what Clarke had to do. I was worried that that group, Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney, John McGinn, they were aging together. There’s a campaign left and this is the campaign.
“Will the pressure be on if they start badly? Yeah. Will they sack him? No. He’ll get the campaign. He’ll at least get until Scotland can’t qualify. Right, he’ll get that.
“Then it wouldn’t necessarily be the press that get him sacked, it wouldn’t necessarily be the SFA that sack him. I think Stevie would walk in, because he’s done an amazing job. But that’s all off the table, because it’s his campaign.”
Q: Should Liverpool go back after Anthony Gordon this summer?
Nevin: “It’s just a weird thing, I don’t see Anthony Gordon as a Liverpool player and it’s not just because he used to wear blue or whatever.
“It may even be the hair in the band and the kind of the attitude sometimes. I just don’t see him as a Liverpool player. I think they would look up and think, yeah, very, very good player but would he be the one who plays centre-forward all the time?
“He can play that position but it’s not his best position so why do you do that? He is better in the very simplest of terms. He’s better running at you with the ball than having his back to you with the ball. He’s just better that way.
“So why would you take that away and play him as a centre forward even if he can be a false nine? You still have to do that role and try to run behind.”
Q: What can Newcastle do about Alexander Isak this summer?
Nevin: “I have to say I find the whole Alexander Isak thing very, very intriguing. Because there’s a list of what players do to get a move.
“First of all, act a bit grumpy in training. Second, start taking the mickey out to the coaches and show disrespect, then it goes all the way down to not turning up for training.
“So there’s loads of them right to the bottom, the final one is even worse than downing tools, that’s almost the nuclear option. The nuclear option is saying, I want a transfer.
“I know that should be higher up. The reason why that’s the last one is because when you say that, you give up your rights to all the money you’re going to get for your signing on fees.
“It’s big, big, big money. and you give that up.
“People think it’s a small line, in reality that’s not a small line. That is a gigantic cheque gone. So you shall see where that goes. I’m finding it entertaining from a distance but I do feel sorry for the Newcastle fans.
“I’ve been there before. I once did the same thing, selling a player to Manchester United. I played that game until an hour before, I knew the player was in Sir Alex’s office down in Manchester.
“I’m holding out against Manchester United, and I’m basically the chief executive of a small Scottish club and I knew they needed people there.
“It was absolutely extraordinary. But you’ve got to do it. So if I could do it at a small club and hold Manchester United to ransom, they’re all doing it. Trust me, they’re all doing it. And the players are doing it too.”
Q: Is Newcastle the right destination for Dominic Calvert-Lewin?
Nevin: “There’s certain things that Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s fabulously good at. He’s not as good a footballer as Alexander Isak, really not. But then again, very, very few are.
“It’s a tough one because there are a number of similarities to the way they look. They’re kind of slightly gangly, obviously Dominic’s better in the air, but in almost every other position, staying fit on top of everything, but also scoring goals, number of goals, all that sort of stuff. Isak is a better player – but he is one of the best on the planet just now.
“His trouble if he signs is going to be the comparisons to Isak. The closest English club to where I live is Newcastle, you’re not only compared with Isak if you are the centre-forward for Newcastle, you’re compared with Alan Shearer and the list goes on.
“They love their centre-forwards like just about nobody else. So if Calvert-Lewin comes goes to Newcastle, it’s a different pressure.
“Newcastle’s a wonderfully weird place, a wonderful place, but a weird place as well. The love for the club, because there’s only one club in the city, is extraordinary.
“There is no hiding place. It’s really close to being a Celtic player or a Rangers player up in Scotland. It’s just there all the time. It’s right in your face all the time.
“For Dominic, that would be a tough one, but he’ll do okay, I would imagine. I think he would probably be slightly better suited to Aston Villa because there are other players around, it’s not just you.
“There aren’t others around, but it’s a tough one. I just hope they all fall through and he goes back to Everton, because David Moyes would be getting something out of it. It’s not going to happen, but I wish it would.”
Q: Is the pressure already building on Russell Martin at Rangers?
Nevin: “Sadly, the pressure is already building on Russell Martin.
“If something goes wrong with a team, if you’re a manager, there’s a whole bunch of things you do. You say they’re working hard, but it’s a process. You say we have to do this next time, you say it’s a new system for them.
“There’s a million things. But he didn’t use any of them, did he?
“He just went right in there and said some are not trying hard enough, not working hard enough, they’re not good enough, they’re not brave enough.
“That’s the nuclear option on day one. You know, it really is. It might work. But it’s fairly unusual for a manager to go for that on day one.
“Really, that’s a big call. But that’s the pressure you get at Celtic or Rangers and particularly Rangers just now because they need to get closer to Celtic.
“Now I watched the game, the Rangers game, and Motherwell, they deserved the goal. They deserved it. They had chances, were brave themselves, and were at least as good as Rangers.
“Celtic last season, I think they dropped 22 points last season from the 38 games. That’s less than a point a game.
“You cannot give Celtic a start. You cannot give them it. Rangers have already dropped two in the first game. They’re already behind the curve. They’re now on the chase.
“It might not be that simple this year because the league looks a wee bit more interesting. Hibs, they had a great end to last season, brilliant end to last season, so they are strong.
“They’ve added well, so they’re okay. Aberdeen won the cup and are getting stronger. Hearts have got Tony Bloom and his genius behind them just now.
“So you’ve got these big old beasts of clubs, I’m not saying they’re gonna break the duopoly, but they’re gonna take a few bites out of them. They really are gonna take a few bites.
“For Rangers it’s not the end of the world yet.
“Celtic, I was at the Celtic game against St. Mirren. Celtic aren’t as good at the moment as they were last season and that’s not what Brendan wants. That’s really not what he wants just now.
“During my commentary, I’d said that if they still had Kyogo Furuhashi, it wouldn’t be 0-0, it would’ve been 4-0.
“The chances they made, he would’ve scored them. Whereas Adam Idah wasn’t scoring them. They need a striker. They really need another striker and Brendan knows it.
“He absolutely knows it, if they don’t get another one, that’s actually Rangers’ best chance this season.
“They’ll still win most of their games and they’re still favourites to win the title. But if they don’t get another striker, and they’ve lost Kyogo Furuhashi during the January break and Jota is injured long term and he’s the most creative player, they’re good, they’re very good.
“Kieran Tierney’s made a big difference as well, him and Daizen Maeda on the left are fantastic. They’re still favourites.
“But the striker’s the thing now. They need it. Everywhere else is fine. Celtic are really nicely balanced, most of the rest of the place, but they need that extra thing.”
Q: Do Rangers even have a 10% chance of beating Celtic to the title?
Nevin: “It’s basically a two-horse race. It’s not 10% for Rangers, it’s a bit more than that. But it’s not a lot more.
“Celtic have won 13 titles of the last 14, that gives you an idea. Celtic have got such a head start, Nicolas Kuhn has gone, but they got a lot of money in for him.
“They’ve lost two or three really important players. They’ve added a bit, we shall have to see how those players get on. They weren’t jumping out at me apart from Kieran Tierney in the game against St Mirren, but give them time.
“They’ve certainly got that finance of years and years and years of Champions League football and they’ve actually sold really well over the years.
“The stadium’s absolutely mobbed every week. Financially, Celtic are in a brilliant position. So if they lose it, Russell Martin’s going to have to be phenomenal and Brendan Rodgers is going to have to have a bad season, Celtic are also going have to make some poor decisions between now and the end of transfer window.
“There’s a lot of ifs. A lot of ifs have to happen. So 10%? No, I’d give Rangers a 15-20% chance of winning the title.”
Q: Is there a danger that Brendan Rodgers gets bored at Celtic?
Nevin: “I don’t think Celtic are worried about Brendan Rodgers leaving. The ownership or indeed the fans. I really don’t think they’re overly worried about it.
“Brendan’s done a very good job and did a good job the first time. But Celtic have had a long
list of managers that have done really well. It’s a long old list.
“One of them is Ange Postecoglou and they love Ange. There is no reason why if Brendan thought, right, I’ve done my job here, they wouldn’t turn around and think, well, Ange was great and he mirrored what the club was all about.
“So, if he was available, he may be a temptation. There’s other managers that are very good. There’s David Moyes, there’s Stevie Clark, there’s any number of managers you could look at and they will be looking further afield as well.
“So there’s any number of managers. I’m not saying they’ll be as good as Brendan, but if Celtic don’t want to equate to his vision of spending money and a lot of money and they want to keep a tight ship running and it doesn’t suit Brendan. I don’t think either side will be utterly devastated by it at the end of the season.
“I think it might even be a fitting end. Whereas if Brendan gets the funds that he would like and the players in it would like he would happily stay there five years and they would happily keep him for five years.
“So yeah, it’s up in the air, but I don’t think it’s a problem. It’s a very strange one because from the outside most times, losing your manager sounds like a disaster. I don’t think it’s that at Celtic. I really don’t.”
Q: Is it inevitable that Steven Gerrard ends up back at Rangers?
Nevin: “It wouldn’t be a shock to see Steven Gerrard back at Rangers. It really wouldn’t be a shock because he had that season. And considering how hard it’s been for Rangers to get close to Celtic it’s the standout, the absolute standout.
“It hurts Celtic fans because Celtic had done nine in a row, Rangers had done nine in a row, and Celtic should now be on their 14th in a row except for that one season.
“That would be that would put them as bragging rights for another decade and a half. Steven Gerrard is a consideration but let’s not write off Russell Martin just yet.
“Again, it’s very early days. He’s trying a very, very different system. It’s a system and a method that you have to be good enough to play, which the Southampton players weren’t at that level.
“He needs to find out if, because we all know what it’s going to be like. We all know what it’s going to look like. There’s no big secret there. We’ve got to find out if his players at Rangers are going to be good enough to play it that way and at that intensity.
“In Scotland, it’s not a given and there’s a couple of weird things up here. And one of them is plastic pitches. There’s three plastic pitches in the Premiership. Everyone thinks that it must be easy to play passing out from the back on a plastic pitch. Is it hell.
“It’s 100 times harder. And people don’t understand it because the ball is different, the rules are different, the move is different. It’s harder to control. There’s lots of different reasons why.
“So he’s got to take that into consideration. It’s a whole bunch of games this season, but you try that down at Kilmarnock, you try that at Falkirk, you try that at Livingston, you might find it difficult.
“So we shall see with Russell. I kind of like that he’s at Rangers because it’s kind of added something different to Scottish football.
“Celtic won the league, we expected them to win the double and the treble most years. Aberdeen beat them last season for the Cup. But if you look at the Scottish Premiership this season, there’s new managers all over the place.
“Two that have come up from the league below. So they are new, they’re new in the league. So that’s new thinking in the league. But Motherwell have got a new manager as well, which again makes it interesting.
“Rangers have got a new manager as well. Hearts have got a new manager as well. This is new thinking, a different thinking, and an adaptation of the clubs that are there.
“So I’m quite intrigued to see where it goes. But as I suspect, I know who’s going to win it.”
Q: If Kieran Tierney stays fit, will he be the player of the season in the Scottish Premiership?
Nevin: “Absolutely, if Kieran Tierney stays fit, he will be the player of the season. I mean, he looked that for 45, 55 minutes at home, and he was fully fit for the first hour of the game. He was dynamite, down the left-hand side. He was a left winger, he was a left back, left midfield. He had a brilliant understanding of last year’s best player.
“With Daizen Maeda, if they play on the left hand side together, in terms of Scottish football, they will be unstoppable if he stays fit. No one will stop them. They will put in cross after cross after cross, they will get into brilliant positions with great game awareness and intelligence.
“They’ve already set up a brilliant partnership on that left-hand side and I know what it’s like if you’re a wide player, the most important player on the pitch for the guy behind you.
“You have to have an understanding of it and you hope he’s good, I played with some good ones over here, Stevie Clark being one of them. When you have that, you can destroy teams. You absolutely destroy teams. They will do that.
“If Kieran stays fit, it’s not a matter of if he could be the player of the year, it’s that he will be.”
