Luiz Felipe Scolari might have kept a lid on his feelings after our game against Everton although it turns out he was merely simmering – and now things have come to the boil.
Mind you, despite clearly being unhappy with John Terry’s red card, his comments on Chelsea TV have no doubt been subjected to some PR editing. The initial refusal to talk to anyone after the game was obviously a gagging order although Scolari suggests he was simply giving himself time to re-assess the events. With time between him and the game, talking on Chelsea TV, Scolari says “If I go to say something (straight after the game) maybe I say something wrong and I need more time to look at everything. I have to look at the game again if something happened in the game. I need to be sure about this or that. I said no (to the press) at that time because maybe I’d have problems in the future – in that time I am not calm. If I go then I answer some questions and I’m angry.”
However, even after sleeping on it Scolari insists “Maybe I look at the game and I change my mind, but I don’t change my mind about yesterday. I looked at the game again and I don’t change. It’s the same as I thought yesterday. For me it’s not normal. I don’t very well understand the decision. But he’s the referee. After (the red card) John he goes to his friend (Osman) to apologise, he goes off like normal. He’s a very good captain, he accepts the decision from the referee.”
And to be fair, I remember thinking at the time that Terry seemed to take the decision remarkably well, but unlike Scolari, having had time to think about it, I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe John Terry’s fairly calm acceptance was a sign that he realised this red card wasn’t one he’d be able to contest.