SKIPPER John Terry insists Chelsea’s billionaire owner Roman Abramovich calls the shots at Stamford Bridge following claims that ‘player power’ led to the downfall of axed manager Andre Villas-Boas.
Villas-Boas was sacked by the ruthless Russian following a string of poor results that left Chelsea staring at the prospect of a Champions League exit and failure to qualify for the competition next season.
Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny suggested that senior Blues players ran the club and former boss Luiz Felipe warned that hell awaited Villas-Boas’ successor due to Abramovich’s relationship with some of the squad.
But Terry, one of the club’s most senior members, has dismissed these claims as nonsense and says that despite the player’s shouldering some of the blame for their former boss’ exit, the final call came from the Russian owner.
Terry said: “As a group of players collectively, and I think Andre would be in with us, we win and lose together and are all responsible for the run of results.
"Unfortunately for Andre it fell on his head but I think the players would all hold their hands up and say that performance-wise, we are to blame as well.
''As for the senior players running this football club, that's nonsense. That's just the perception from outside. Roman and the board make the decisions.
"On the football pitch, that can affect what happens upstairs of course. If we don't win matches, the board step in. People speculating from various different clubs or previous managers, that's complete nonsense.''
Villas-Boas’ replacement, interim coach Roberto Di Matteo , faces a tough task to overturn the 3-1 first-leg defeat his former boss oversaw in Naples when Napoli visit Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.
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