Former Chelsea player names the four players who held all the power – played role in sacking managers
Former Chelsea player Mikel John Obi has provided insights into the influence wielded by players at Chelsea, suggesting that it might have played a role in the dismissals of managers such as Andre Villas-Boas and Rafael Benitez.
Chelsea has a track record of frequently changing managers, with Roman Abramovich, the former owner, appointing 12 managers in his two-decade tenure, not counting repeated appointments and caretakers.
The current owners, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, have hired three permanent managers and two interim managers in less than 18 months.
During his 11-year tenure at Chelsea, Mikel experienced the management changes under eight different leaders. Only Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti managed to complete two full seasons before facing dismissal. Notably, Andre Villas-Boas, once hailed as the successor to Mourinho, endured only nine months in charge.
According to Mikel, there were four key players in the dressing room who held sway with Roman Abramovich if results took a downturn and tensions emerged between players and the manager.
These influential figures were John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, and Petr Cech.
Asked what happens when the players wanted a manager sacked, Mikel told Rio Ferdinand’s Vibe with Five: “The chat happens between the big guys: JT, Frank, Didier and Petr Cech and a little bit of Ashley [Cole].
“It’s not like a chat where they go ‘we’re going to go at you’, but the one person we really didn’t like was Rafa [Benitez], because he wasn’t a Chelsea kind of manager, and AVB.
“AVB was younger than most of the players, younger than Frank, younger than JT, and for some reason, he stopped playing Frank and Frank didn’t take that well so there was a little bit of a rift.
“When that happens and you get bad results, players who have been playing but are no longer start talking and the atmosphere was a little bit down, it cycles around and before you know it there is a little bit of talk.
“They stop talking to the manager, not saying ‘good morning’ and just walk past. That’s how they get their message across. The Roman comes in, as Roman only speaks to those guys, and once their story has been told to Roman, then Roman makes the decisions which favours the players.”
Former Chelsea player names the four players who held all the power – played role in sacking managers