JOHN TERRY will gather his Chelsea team
together at St James' Park tomorrow and urge them to produce one
last heroic push for glory.
They face Newcastle in the first of three do-or-die matches as
their thrilling shoot-out with double rivals Manchester United
reaches a heart-pumping climax. At stake no less than the Premier
League and Champions League crowns. And the Chelsea captain is
convinced his men can upset all the odds — and United — to make
history.
England centre-half Terry, 27, will drill the message home with
a short and simple rallying call. He will roar: "This is our
moment. This is our time!" Two brief sentences which sum up his
sense of destiny after Chelsea's astonishing run of form this year
has put club football's two greatest prizes within his grasp.
Terry explained: "There's a unique opportunity for us now and I
really believe it is our time. "This is the moment when we can
achieve something truly special. "We are in top form, we feel
strong and we have the drive and determination to do this. At this
club we have a driving force within, a drive that's instilled in
everyone of us. "We are winners. We hate to lose and that's why we
never give up."
Many sides would not have recovered from the setbacks which have
hit the Blues this season. The shock departure of inspirational
boss Jose Mourinho rocked the club in September, then a string of
injuries to key players added yet more pressure on Avram Grant, the
new man in charge. The loss of Didier Drogba, Michael Essien,
Salomon Kalou and John Obi Mikel for the African Cup of Nations
increased the strain. But Terry says Chelsea's stars turned the
misery of events in 2007 into inspiration for their amazing
recovery in 2008.
Terry added: "Seeing Manchester United win the Premier League
last year, seeing them and Arsenal running away with it at the
start of this season — that hurt us. "But credit to everyone at
this club. "We refused to concede anything and just kept fighting
and fighting. "That's what we are all about. When things are down,
when things are against us — that's when we respond and rise to the
challenge.
"So we dug deep and delivered the results, first to stay in
touch and then to close the gap. "And now we have pegged United
back and also overtaken Arsenal — and few people outside of
Stamford Bridge would have believed that was possible. "But that's
what we're all about at Chelsea — that's what's brought us all our
trophies in the last three years and now we're looking to make room
in the cabinet for a couple more."
Terry says it has been a united effort from boss Grant through
to the players. And the skipper is quick to pay tribute to his
often under-fire boss and scotch talk of the new manager being
unceremoniously dumped in the summer.
He added: "It's bizarre to even talk about that when we've just
made history and are still pushing for two massive trophies. "Avram
has done very well. Steve Clarke has done very well, Henk ten Cate
has done very well. "And the players have done exceptionally well,
to keep us in the title race. "So everyone at this football club
deserves credit."
Terry admits there have been times when he has been angry and
upset as Chelsea looked to be chasing in vain. There were even
times when he read the riot act in the dressing room to galvanise
his side. But he always had faith that the Blues would prevail.
He said: "I never lost belief. I did get frustrated at times,
even disappointed at times, but you have to take it on the chin and
deal with it — especially me as captain. "The one thing we always
did was get everyone in the dressing room together, thrash it all
out and then get on with it.
"We tackled it, sorted it and pushed on." The players have
pushed on that well that we're taking the Premier League title to
the wire and we're off to Moscow. "Whatever happens, we have
achieved something which we have never done before in Chelsea's
history — we have reached the Champions League final.
"That is the one trophy missing from the Chelsea collection.
"Winning two Premier league titles, the FA Cup and the Carling Cup
ahead of teams like Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool show
we are a great team.
"We have dominated the domestic scene in the last few years and
now we have a great chance to be crowned the No1 side in Europe.
"And being against United it has all the makings of a great final.
"The two best teams in this country coming head to head for the
biggest prize in European football. "Hopefully we will come out on
top. "But we know that won't be easy because this doesn't just mean
everything to the Chelsea players — it means everything to the
United players too.
"No-one's going there to lose that's for sure. "But you also
know there has to be a loser — we're just hoping it will be
Manchester United. "And I don't care how we win, what the match is
like, what score is, that doesn't bother me at all. "Just as long
as we win. "To lift that trophy is all I'm dreaming about."
