CHELSEA hero John Obi Mikel revealed players were “not having” Rafa Benitez as manager and claims John Terry played a major role in the Spaniard’s exit.
Mikel spent 11 years at Stamford Bridge after arriving from Norwegian side Lyn in 2006 and won every title available with the Blues.
The former midfielder was also part of the squad that saw the controversial appointment of Benitez as interim manager in 2012.
The West Londoners’ fans didn’t warm to the Spanish tactician due to his past as Liverpool boss and the ex-Nigeria international claims the players were also not very keen on him.
The 36-year-old added that Chelsea captain Terry was particularly not interested in working with the ex-Real Madrid manager after he dropped him.
The Nigerian claims the former England skipper decided Benitez had to go and used his influence to get his wish, even though he led the team to a third-place finish and the Europa League trophy.
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When asked by talkSPORT hosts Jim White and Simon Jordan whether Chelsea players were “not having” the current Celta Vigo boss, Mikel said: “No, we were not.
“We made that clear. I think obviously Liverpool was a big rival for us, but coming into the club as well, I think the fans also didn’t like Rafa.
“I think there was something about Rafa that the fans didn’t take to him. Same as the players, we didn’t accept him as one of us.
“Then we had the thing with JT where JT got dropped, JT wasn’t playing as much as he wanted.
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“Obviously JT always played and Rafa comes in and was like, ‘You’re not going to play every game’.
“Obviously JT wanted an explanation, ‘Why am I not played?’ And Rafa didn’t give him that. JT got together by himself and decided, ‘Yeah, your time is gone’!
“I think, obviously, one man that actually absolutely did run it was John Terry. JT was the man. In a good way. On the pitch, JT was the man.
“Sometimes, when the dressing room was not together, he was the guy that always brought us together. On the pitch, off the pitch, he was the leader.
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“Like you’ve just said, there’s too many players there with big egos. The likes of Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Petr Cech, Ashley Cole. You know, everyone has their opinion. But at the end of the day, JT was the guy who made the decisions.
“We had the power. I think JT, Frank, Didier – Didier was very opinionated, had a lot of voice in the dressing room – Petr Cech, these guys were the ones who run the dressing room.
“When they feel like, ‘Ok, this manager is not giving the players what we want, we’re not playing as much as we want, or not enjoying ourselves in the way we want, we’ll come together and figure out a way of getting someone in that we want’.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
