They are treating coach with 'utter
contempt'
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.
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?”
