Chelsea skipper John Terry today called a crisis meeting as he
attempted to stop growing unrest among his team-mates.
The unhappy squad met after training at Cobham this lunchtime to
discuss the implications of Jose Mourinho's departure and the
appointment of Avram Grant as his successor.
Star players remain unconvinced by the appointment of Grant and
some suspect he played a part in Mourinho's downfall because of his
friendship with Roman Abramovich.
Skipper Terry, with plenty of input from other senior players,
talked about the future and stressed the importance of presenting a
unified front as they prepare for Sunday's visit to Manchester
United.
The new Israeli boss who has a close relationship with Abramovich,
clearly has a tough job proving to his players that he is the man
to lead the club forward.
It seems certain, for now at least, that Grant will lean heavily
upon his assistant, the long-serving club stalwart Steve
Clarke.
In the long-term though, Grant will need to persuade the players,
some more than others, that he has no agenda other than to move the
club on.
As part of that attempt to win the players round to the new regime,
Chelsea are reported to have made a move to stop Frank Lampard
following Mourinho out of the door by offering him the
£135,000-a-week contract he wants to stay at Stamford Bridge.
Lampard has said he wants talks over a new deal postponed until
next summer when he will have only one year left to serve of his
current deal.
Both he and striker Didier Drogba were close to their former coach,
who is and waiting for the offers of work to come in. Mourinho at
least knows that any prospective suitors won't be coming from
London, as Chelsea have blocked attempts by Premier League rivals
to snap up their former manager by forcing him to sign an exile
agreement until next season.
The Portuguese agreed to the deal last night as apart of the
pay-off for him and his coaching staff, which is worth at least
£16million.
That scuppered an immediate approach by Spurs, who had privately
declared their interest in securing his services in place of
current boss Martin Jol.
Mourinho said: I'm going to enjoy my life, I'm going to wait for
the phone calls. I want to work. I'll take my time after what
happened.
Having handed the reins to Grant and Clarke in the short term,
Blues are thought to be considering adding Jamie Redknapp to their
backroom staff.
Of their former boss, the club said: Jose has been instrumental in
putting Chelsea among the leading clubs in world football.
He will always be welcome at Stamford Bridge, whether as a guest
or manager of another club. thought to be headed on holiday to
Brazil
