Mourinho told West Ham to poach Clarke from Chelsea
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They are treating coach with 'utter contempt'
OUT IN THE COLD - Steve Clarke has no way back at ChelseaCHELSEA have been accused of treating long-serving Steve Clarke with 'utter contempt' after Peter Kenyon blocked his move to West Ham.
New Hammers boss Gianfranco Zola wants Clarke as his No 2 but Chelsea are demanding an incredible £4.8MILLION in compensation for their assistant coach. Clarke has been told to stay away from Stamford Bridge and put on gardening leave by Blues chief executive Kenyon until any deal is thrashed out.
But a friend of Clarke said: “Steve is deeply hurt and upset by Chelsea’s stance. “Basically, they are treating him with utter contempt. “He has been nothing but loyal to the club, even when he was marginalised under Avram Grant. “What is the reward for 21 years of loyalty? It’s having it thrown back in Steve’s face.
Speak
“All he wants to do is further his career working alongside a friend he has known for over 10 years but Chelsea seem determined to punish him for that. “He has two years on his contract which is worth £1.2m but Chelsea want four times that before they’ll even let him speak to West Ham.
“Yet they’ve sorted out the likes of Shevchenko, Crespo and Veron almost at the drop of the hat — players who’ve contributed next to nothing to Chelsea — but they won’t do anything for somebody who has served the club loyally through thick and thin.
“He’s really hurt because somebody like Avram Grant earned more in wages and a pay-off in a year than Steve has earned in 10 years. “Under Grant, Steve was way down the pecking order behind the likes of Henk Ten Cate — but always stayed absolutely loyal and did his job.
“Now it’s obvious he’s not as hands-on under Scolari as he was under Jose Mourinho and wants to move to another Premier League club where he’ll have a chance to be far more involved.
“Yet as soon as he asked, Chelsea have acted so heavy-handedly that he’s beginning to wonder what he’s done wrong to be treated like this.” Earlier this week, Zola intervened personally to break the deadlock.
Happy
The Italian spoke to Roman Abramovich’s right-hand man, Eugene Tenenbaum, to broker a peace deal — but was rebuffed.
West Ham have been shocked by Chelsea’s stance. They were happy to buy out the remaining two years of Clarke’s Blues contract but simply cannot afford close to £5m in compensation.
Talks will continue but a West Ham source said: “We were hugely surprised at the amount Chelsea were demanding. “Steve is obviously a highly regarded member of their staff, that’s why Gianfranco was keen to recruit him. “But he’s not doing the same job as he was under Jose Mourinho, so why is the figure so high?”
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Mourinho told West Ham to poach Clarke from Chelsea
Chelsea's determination to prevent their assistant first-team coach, Steve Clarke, from joining West Ham is likely to be strengthened after if emerged that Jose Mourinho had recommended the Scot to Gianfranco Zola, the new manager at Upton Park.
Mourinho and Clarke enjoyed a fruitful partnership during their three years at Stamford Bridge and the Portuguese has told Zola to make Clarke's appointment as his assistant a priority. Zola and Mourinho spoke on the phone shortly after the Italian was confirmed as Alan Curbishley's replacement on Thursday.
Zola played with Clarke during his seven-year spell at Chelsea but has no experience of him as a coach. So he turned to Mourinho, who promoted Clarke from youth-team coach to his assistant after becoming Chelsea's manager in June 2004. They won two Premier League titles, one FA Cup and two League Cups.
Mourinho, now at Internazionale, believes Zola would receive the same support and high-level coaching from Clarke as he enjoyed at Chelsea. Zola has told West Ham's chief executive, Scott Duxbury, to continue the pursuit of Clarke despite the feud it has created with his former employers.
News of Mourinho's intervention will no doubt infuriate Chelsea officials, who are making it as difficult as possible for Clarke to leave. The former full-back's resignation was rejected on Friday before Chelsea, having agreed over the weekend to allow the 45-year-old to move, informed West Ham it will cost them £5m.
That demand has bewildered the hierarchy at Upton Park because Clarke has just two years to run on his £600,000-a-year contract and has been marginalised at Chelsea since Mourinho departed. They also see it as disrespectful to a man who has given the club almost 20 years' service and wants a new challenge. West Ham are happy to pay compensation but are not willing to go higher than £1m and are prepared to take Chelsea to court.
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