FORMER Chelsea star Steve Sidwell has claimed Roman Abramovich used to stare at his players after a defeat.
The retired midfielder was signed by the Blues from Reading in 2007 on a free transfer.
Sidwell stayed at Stamford Bridge for just one season before leaving for Aston Villa but experienced plenty under owner Abramovich and then manager Jose Mourinho.
There is much debate over current chiefs Todd Bohely and Behdad Eghbali entering the Chelsea dressing room after matches.
Asked on talkSPORT whether it is the correct thing for owners to do, Sidwell replied: “It depends on what they’re going in and saying or if they’re going in regularly.
“When I was at Chelsea, Abramovich used to come in after matches at Stamford Bridge.
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“As a player, I never really saw it as a negative or a positive.
“After a game you knew if you’d played well or not, but with Roman it was different.
“If he came in, he didn’t have to say anything really. It would be a glare.
“He’d come in after most games and shake everyone’s hands and stand there talking to the coach and that was it.
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“He never really addressed us, but if there was a defeat or a bad performance, he’d come in and it would be ‘oof okay, here we go’.
“At the training ground there were times where we were called in for a meeting with the owner – especially at Chelsea with Roman, but away from the stadium and the emotion.”
Sidwell has told several incredible stories from his time in West London, including when he went to Mourinho’s house to sign for the club but the boss and his wife had no idea he was in his living room.
He was surprisingly given the No9 shirt at Chelsea with him suspicious that it was a ploy by the gaffer to highlight the team’s inability to sign a striker over the summer.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
