Remember how much Roman Abramovich was rumoured to dislike Mourinho’s constant media attention? Remember how he was swiftly down the road once the nonsense in the press started to outweigh any perceived benefits of keeping ‘The Special One’ around? Most of us remember it well, so with a couple of our players constantly in the press for all the wrong reasons lately you couldn’t help but wonder what Abramovich thought of it all.
Well, it seems Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay spelled out exactly how Roman Abramovich feels about it, in a no-nonsense meeting with the players at the training ground this week. Ok, so he probably didn’t threaten they’d all go the same way as Mourinho but it sounds as if he gave them the message loud and clear that they’d be facing ‘severe disciplinary consequences’ if they can’t behave themselves.
Following the meeting, Carlo Ancelotti, who has previously been alleged to suggest he’s not particularly interested in his players’ off-field antics, said “We had a meeting this week with the players. It was a good meeting. Ron Gourlay was there as well. We spoke to the players and explained to them the behaviour that is required of the players in this club. Now they know very well what they have to do and what behaviour is expected of them when they’re in the Chelsea shirt.”
“We are interested, me and the club, in protecting the image of this club. Not only the players and the manager, all the staff – the people who work in this club – have to protect that image. That is one of the most important things, the image of the club. We want to carry that forward. And I think the players and all the staff know very well what they have to do. Ron spoke for the club, for the owner, and the players listened. It was a private meeting and I don’t like to speak about what exactly was said. But, to confirm, the most important thing is that everybody has to pay attention to protect the image of the club.”
About bloody time too!