James Chester has signed for Derby County. The 33 year old midfielder was available on a free transfer following his release from Stoke City. We spoke with Stoke City supporter Ben Rowley from the YYY Files, Harvey Todd from the We Are Stoke Podcast and Elliot Yates from Bear Pit TV to find out what the Welshman could bring to The Rams.
It’s rumored that Derby are interested in signing James Chester. What do you make of it?
Ben: On the face of it, it seems sensible. Chester has known quality and what he’s lacked in recent years is game time. He’ll surely get that at Derby, and the known quality he has may resurface at a level which is more suitable now age has caught up with him.
Harvey: I think he’d be a decent player at League One level. His injuries have caught up with him and is sadly unable to perform well at Championship level.
Elliot: I think that it’s the right time and the right club for Chester. The transfer itself seems to make sense for where he’s at in his career after a difficult few years at Stoke.
Are you surprised that Chester would be looking to sign for a League One club?
Ben: Not particularly. He’s done at Championship level in my opinion. He’s has terrible luck with injuries and his fitness means he struggles to hold down a first team spot even when he’s given the chance. He needs a league which is slightly lower pace, where he can use his technique and mentality rather than his physicality.
Harvey: Not really, for the aforementioned reasons. When we released him I think most expected him to move to a lower Championship/League One club.
Elliot: I’m not surprised he’s looking for a league one club given his performances last year. Which I think is partly to do with age and he’s at a stage where he still wants to play but can’t force his way into a championship team.
He played 22 times for Stoke last season. This is 11 games fewer than the year before. Why was that?
Ben: Stoke have been slowly rebuilding for the last few years and Chester was an important cog in preventing us falling to league one a couple of years ago. Since then, Stoke have been recruiting well in defensive positions and we’ve young blood coming through too. The older heads (Chester and players like Danny Batth) were never a long-term option.
Harvey: There’s better players ahead of him in the pecking order. He rarely featured before Souttar’s injury in November and then again towards the end of the season due to the emergence of young Will Forrester.
Elliot: He played 11 games fewer for Stoke due to us strengthening the defence and also his performances for Stoke this season made him less trustworthy. We brought in Leo Ostigard, Ben Wilmot and later Taylor Harwood-Bellis to partner Harry Souttar and from then there was never a way back in the team, and when he did get his chance he didn't perform.
How did he perform last season?
Ben: In all honesty: poorly. A lack of game time resulted in a lack of fitness and he was caught out on far too many occasions last season. He also didn’t gel with a completely new defence around him, and ended up being a liability in and out of possession. He needed a consistent run in the team, but Stoke were never going to give it to him.
Harvey: Poorly and he was very mistake prone. He almost panicked in most defensive scenarios, whereas Phil Jagielka who came in in January was able to read the game.
Elliot: This season has been the worst season in his Stoke career by far and even he'd admit that. He cost us points in a lot of games and you always had your teeth against your lips when he had the ball because you knew something bad could happen at any minute. Age has caught up with him at Stoke in the Championship.
How would you sum up his time at The Potteries?
Ben: Grateful for his initial appearances and started the evolution of a more possession-retaining defensive line. Without him, we’d be lucky to be able to attract players like him, however Stoke slowly outgrew him and age and injuries caught up with him and his decline was too sharp compared to the growth of this around him.
Harvey: I’d say it was underwhelming. He came in with a fair bit of promise given his successes at Aston Villa but he cost us a lot of points through his time.
Elliot: His time at Stoke was good for the first year. He performed well when lockdown hit and at the start of the 20/21 season he was a regular and his presence was very reassuring. From August - November that year whenever he didn't play we always used to concede 3 goals so that tells you everything you need to know about his presence in defence. I remember one game in particular at Derby where he blocked Kazim Richards from a certain goal with an incredible goal line clearance but that was probably the last bit of good form he showed for Stoke with last season being very tough for him.
Did Stoke express any interest in re-signing him once is contract expired?
Ben: Not at all. As I say, Stoke were done with him. We’ve been fairly ruthless with a number of senior players in recent seasons. However, it’s been no secret that we’ve paid them rather handsomely and given them important roles in their time here.
Harvey: Not that I’m aware of. I think Forrester and Connor Taylor would be better options in the short and long term.
Elliot: Stoke didn’t express much desire to sign a new contract, if any, I think they both knew that it was time for both the player and the club to part ways. Chester needed a fresh start and Stoke need to lower the age in defence. Right decision for me and it’s definitely the right time to move on.
Would you call his time at Stoke a success?
Ben: I’m glad we signed him in the first place, but I’m glad he’s gone.
Harvey: Not particularly. I can only recall a handful of good games where he showed glimpses of his greatness in B6.
Elliot: I think last season has tarnished Stoke fans reputation of him given the amount of mistakes that he made. But in his first year for us I thought he was very underrated and made a difference to our defence every time he was in along with Souttar. I wouldn’t say success but I would say Chester was very underrated in his first year and then dropped off after that.
What are his strengths? His weaknesses?
Ben: He’s an intelligent defender who is able to lead those around him, particularly younger heads. Both in the tackle and in possession, he can be very handy. However, he’s lost all pace and presence, meaning he’s pretty non-existent if he’s in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Harvey: Michael O’Neill came out and said how great he was in the dressing room which is crucial in League One. Another strength is his goal line blocks, if I recall correctly his final touch for Stoke was a brilliant goal line block to salvage a point. His weaknesses are situations where’s he’s under pressure, he’s done some questionable things at times.
Elliot: His biggest strength is presence in the defence as I mentioned beforehand. He probably showed more of it at Aston Villa than at Stoke but in his first few matches he made a big impact to our defence which ultimately kept us up. His weaknesses have been highlighted this season from his decision making, composure on the ball and has a mistake in him now and again but it may be more of a confidence issue rather than a player issue.
As a centre-half, is he comfortable on the ball or is he more of an old-fashioned defender? What other elements to his game are there?
Ben: Certainly a more progressive defender, who will attempt to bring those closer to him into play. I expect this will be easier for him to execute in League 1, as he was struggling to deal with the high-pressing nature of the Championship. He’ll certainly suit a team looking toward the top end of the table.
Harvey: He’s definitely an older-fashioned centre-half. We like to play out from the back and he looked incredibly uncomfortable playing that way.
Elliot: He’s definitely more of an old fashioned defender. He’s somebody that’ll get the ball away and it doesn’t matter how it gets away from the box it just goes. Stoke have developed more of a passing out from the back game and he looked a bit of his depth when trying it. So definitely more old fashioned. Other elements of his game are that he’s very good at goal line clearances there’s a great video of him for Villa making one and in his last game for Stoke he made a great stop on the line against Coventry so watch out for those at Pride Park.
When he played for Wales at Euro 2016, he played in a back three. Does this still suit him or is he better in a back two?
Ben: With the lack of physicality, I’d say the left of a back three is where he’s best these days. He’s not tall, nor fast, but a good enough defender to play his part with more physical hands around him.
Harvey: I think either could suit him, he’s played in both during his time here.
Elliot: Stoke have played in a back 4 and a back 4 with Chester and I personally felt that a back four suited him more. When we switched to a back three that’s where a lot of his problems started occurring which has ultimately led to departure and Stoke fans criticising him for mistakes that he made. He played well for Wales but I think it was probably the wrong time of his career to play a back three with expressive attacking football.
Chester is 33 years old. Do you think he can be good player in League One for Derby?
Ben: I think he’d be a good addition. You’d need cover for him I’m sure, but he’ll bring quality rarely seen in League 1 and a mentality which should see those younger around him develop too. However, not playing to his (depleting) strengths will cost you.
Harvey: He should be, maybe for a year or so. But beyond that I can’t see him playing much, but I wish him all the very best!
Elliot: Yes. Despite what I’ve said about his mistakes I think it’s a good signing for Derby, a great League One signing. I think he’ll suit that League really well. Most defences tend to play on the six yard box rather than the halfway line in League One and that should suit his game really well as he’s not the quickest and doesn’t seem to play his best football in passing out from the back. It’s the right time in his career to go to League One and I’m sure he’ll strike up a great partnership with Curtis Davies like they did at Hull.