“That’s not accepted at Chelsea” – John Terry shares details of heated dressing room bust-up with ex-Blues coach
John Terry has revealed that he had a go at Rafa Benitez when the Spaniard was the Chelsea manager.
Terry was furious with the former Liverpool boss accepting a loss against Manchester City and asking the players to move on as soon as they entered the dressing room.
Speaking to John Obi Mikel on the Nigerian's Obi One Podcast, Terry revealed that he was unhappy with the manager leaving him on the bench. He recalled the loss to Manchester City:
"We played Man City in the FA Cup, and he wasn't playing me, so we were at loggerheads, arguing on the training pitch.
"He was leaving me out of the team, leaving me off the bench, but I insisted on travelling with the team. I was on the bench at Man City, and we lost 2-1."
Terry added that he took shots at Liverpool and said that it might be acceptable to lose at Anfield but not at Stamford Bridge:
"We came in after the game and he addressed the group and said 'oh well guys, it doesn't matter, we have another game at the weekend'. At the time, you could feel Man City were doing something, and I'd just had enough.
"I said, 'Is that accepted? No chance. You've accepted us losing to Man City!' I'm across the dressing room, all the lads are pulling me back, he's now coming towards me, and I just said 'That's not accepted at Chelsea. Maybe at Liverpool losing a quarter-final is acceptable, but at Chelsea that's not accepted!'"
The Blues went on to win the UEFA Europa League under the Spaniard before he was replaced in the summer.
The Blues always insisted that Benitez was appointed as the interim manager after they had sacked Roberto Di Matteo in November 2012.
What Rafael Benitez said about his time at Chelsea
Rafael Benitez has said that Chelsea fans he met in the streets were polite and respectful to him. He added that some were unhappy with his Liverpool past but were happy with his work.
Benitez told The Guardian:
"All the feedback that I had from the professionals and the board was very positive. We achieved what they wanted. But they couldn't manage what happened with some fans. In the end, they decided they had to change."
The Blues replaced Rafa Benitez with Jose Mourinho, who had left Real Madrid at the end of the 2012-13 season. The Spaniard went on to join Napoli in May 2013 before heading to Real Madrid in 2015.