Cech: I'm not the axeman
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Chelsea were 'divided' under Luiz Felipe Scolari, says John Terry
Terry: expressed sympathy and admiration for Phil but said only “two or three” of his team-mates felt the same.
Chelsea are confident of naming Guus Hiddink as their temporary manager this week, but the Russia coach could be taking on more than he is bargaining for after John Terry revealed the extent of dressing-room divisions at Stamford Bridge.
Speaking for the first time since Luiz Felipe Scolari’s shock sacking on Monday, the Chelsea captain expressed sympathy and admiration for the departed manager, although he added the important caveat that only “two or three” of his team-mates felt the same.
Terry’s carefully chosen words, as he took a detour from discussing England’s friendly international against Spain this evening, go some way to confirming what has long been suspected: that a series of cliques have developed in the camp.
Terry and Frank Lampard have made a point of standing up for Scolari, publicly and privately, all season and Ashley Cole was also sympathetic. But the tone of Terry’s comments suggests that the rest of the team were not. Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and Petr Cech are known to have had doubts, telling Roman Abramovich, the owner, of their reservations at an informal meeting last Thursday to which Terry was not party.
“I have sympathy for Scolari,” Terry said. “He had my support, that’s for sure. Two or three other players will say the same thing, I’m sure. Unfortunately we weren’t playing well and it falls on his head. Maybe they should look at some of us. We underachieved. It’s unfortunate because the manager is a great man, but the overall picture needs to be looked at. The powers at the club need to look at that.”
Without naming names, Terry also criticised several of his team-mates’ performances this season, arguing that he and the players should take a greater share of the responsibility for Scolari’s dismissal.
“We’ve not been performing well individually and collectively as a squad, and that falls on the manager’s head, which is unfair because a few of us feel we could have done better in our time with the manager,” Terry said. “We started off very well, but things dipped in form and results. That’s unfortunate for Mr Scolari.”
Hiddink will not be in charge for Saturday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie away to Watford, which will be supervised by Ray Wilkins, the assistant first-team coach. The Dutchman will return to Moscow from Russia’s training camp in Turkey today for talks with the Russian Football Union, which confirmed last night that it would allow him to combine two jobs until the end of the season.
Hiddink is expected to earn £2 million for 15 weeks’ work at Chelsea and is considering bringing in Johan Neeskens, who served as his assistant when he was in charge of Holland and Australia, as his No 2.
Chelsea also insist that Hiddink will be only a temporary appointment, but sources close to him conceded that he would be willing to discuss continuing to combine both jobs next season, with the proviso that he will stay in charge of Russia.
If Hiddink joins Chelsea, but then leaves the club in the summer, they will turn their attentions to Carlo Ancelotti, the AC Milan coach, who turned down an approach last summer. “If the position is open in July he may consider it,” Umberto Gandini, the Milan vice-president, said.
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Ranieri: Now we will have to start from the beginning.
Former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri is well aware of the pressures on any Chelsea manager after being sacked in 2004, but believes that the change will make it more difficult for his Juventus team ahead of the Champions League clashes on Feb 25 and March 10.
"Now the players will have an excuse and I, who had studied Scolari's team by memory, will have to start from the beginning," he said. "It will be another Chelsea and I will only have two weeks to get to know it."
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glory glory man utd, glory glory man utd, glory glory man utd, as the reds go marching on on on!
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nvm scolari.. when zola go back to chelsea (by any chance)
u come west ham la!
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Ranieri looks like Robin Williams...
Scolari looks like Gene Hackman...
Next manager don't know look like which Hollywood actor... lol
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BLAME GAME STARTS... Michael Ballack
MICHAEL BALLACK insists Chelsea's players are to blame for Phil Scolari's sacking.
The Blues boss was axed on Monday after just six months in charge at Stamford Bridge. But Germany midfielder Ballack believes he and his team-mates could have saved Scolari.
He said: "It is a shame because he had not been with us for a long time. "Of course there was some criticism and we did not get the results we all would have wanted. "But that is not the manager's fault but the team's. "Something like this is always uncomfortable."
Guus Hiddink is the favourite to replace Scolari and Ballack thinks Chelsea can still challenge for honours this season. He added: "I want to win the Champions League and play at the highest level and I can do that with Chelsea.
"Last year we were level with Manchester United on points right to the end and we lost the Champions League final unluckily on penalties. "This club has high ambitions and that is what I came here for."
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we know we know
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ballack should look at himself.
he and malouda are the biggest flop at chelsea.
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SEPARATE WAYS ... Michael Ballack says axed boss Scolari was ultimately to blame
Phil was weakest link
MICHAEL BALLACK has insisted Phil Scolari WAS the weakest link and is to blame for his own Chelsea downfall. The German midfielder was among a trio of players who Scolari believes betrayed him and helped get him the boot this week. But Ballack, 32, last night claimed the Brazilian’s coaching methods were not good enough to bring success to Stamford Bridge.
He said: “Every coach has his own training methods and Scolari has been very successful with his way of doing things in the past. “He has proved he is a great coach but most recently there has been a lack of success at Chelsea.
“When that happens the blame comes down on to the weakest link in the chain - the manager. Ourselves, the players, are also responsible for the fact things have not gone so well.”
Ballack, along with Didier Drogba and Petr Cech, were the three stars who Big Phil believes knifed him. But the Germany captain insisted his relationship with Scolari was good and he was surprised by his departure.
He added: “I was surprised about Scolari being sacked. I had not expected it and I had a good relationship with him. “Something like this is always unpleasant. It is a shame as he was not with us for long.
“We were level on points with Manchester United right up until the end of last season and we were unlucky to lose the Champions League final on penalties.
“Jose Mourinho was decisive in my moving to Chelsea. But we have still been a top European club since his departure. “The club has high demands and that is something I hoped to find when I joined them.”
Chelsea yesterday confirmed Russia boss Guus Hiddink will be in charge until the end of the season. The Dutchman is due to arrive in London tomorrow and will meet the players at their Cobham training HQ.
He will not oversee Saturday’s FA Cup clash at Watford but will be in charge for the Premier League crunch with Aston Villa next week. Juliano Belletti has revealed the Blues’ Brazilian stars have been left stunned by Scolari’s axe after just seven months in charge.
Belletti says the likes of Alex, Mineiro and Deco cannot understand why the World Cup winner was shown the door so quickly. He says Deco, who was born in Brazil but played for Scolari for Portugal, is particularly disappointed.
Former Barcelona ace Belletti said: “I am really sad with this situation. It’s not only sad for me, but for the other Brazilian players. “Deco had the opportunity to work with Scolari in the Portuguese national team and is really disappointed.
“It will be tough for us to overcome this situation. We have talked a lot and we are really disappointed with the club officials. “This is not a good situation for a club who wants to be among the greatest in England.”
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even grant also nv kena kao pei by chelsea players
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Originally posted by [J]erry:
even grant also nv kena kao pei by chelsea players
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Grant was kao pei kao bu by ALL the Chelsea players... and fans.
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Cech: I'm not the axeman
PETR CECH is not sad to see the back of Phil Scolari but insists he did not stick the knife into the axed Chelsea boss.
The Czech international keeper was one of the players blamed by Scolari for his shock sacking.
But Cech has told pals he had nothing to do with owner Roman Abramovich’s decision to dump the Brazilian boss after just seven months in charge.
A friend of the Blues No1 said: “Petr did have problems with Scolari but they were only because the manager was messing around with his training programme.”
Cech is now out to re-establish himself as the world’s top keeper after Scolari unsettled him by attempting to replace goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon with Brazilian Carlos Pracidelli.
Lollichon worked with Cech at his previous club Rennes but Scolari even banned his star keeper from watching videos of forthcoming opponents prepared for him by Lollichon.
Cech complained to Scolari about the changes but to no avail.
Cech’s friend added: “Petr prides himself on his professionalism and hates being ill prepared.
“To not be able to watch videos or prepare as he was accustomed to clearly affected his performances this season.” -
Originally posted by Y_Shun:
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Grant was kao pei kao bu by ALL the Chelsea players... and fans.
0.o i thought terry all those nv kp.. now even ballack come out and kp
fans of cos
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k
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Yeah, Terry, Ballack, Joe Cole and Shevchenko all were sad to see Grant go... The others I don't recall any single player coming out like the way we see with Scolari...
Actually I don't think the players really complain much about Grant... Only the mourinho fans who were always unhappy with him since the day he took over Jose's post... They never gave him a chance... They somehow feel it was Grant's fault that Jose got the sack... and wanted a "Big name" manager to manage them... Well, in the end they got Big Phil... which brought them a Big mess...
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ya and Grant will probably win the world cup if he is managing Singapore nation team