
The anxious wait for John Terry goes on, with Anton Ferdinand said to be considering making a statement regarding the alleged racist remarks made during the Blues’ clash with QPR last weekend.
On Tuesday, the FA announced that they had launched an investigation into reports that Chelsea and England defender Terry racially abused Ferdinand – something that the Stamford Bridge skipper strongly denies.
Terry quickly released his own statement after the event, in which he claimed there had been a misunderstanding. “I thought Anton was accusing me of using a racist slur against him. I responded aggressively, saying that I never used that term,” he said eight days ago. “I would never say such a thing and I’m saddened that people would think so. I have known Anton for a long time and spoke to him about it after the game and there was no problem between us.”
It is understood that Ferdinand does not recall any conversation with Terry in which he accused the England captain of racially abusing him and Ferdinand has spoken to the FA according to Loftus Road boss Neil Warnock.
Premier League new boys QPR have so far refused to say too much on the matter, but owner Tony Fernandes has made it clear that the club fully support their player.
The whole affair casts a shadow over the West London giants and it’s been a difficult week for boss Andre Villas-Boas, having to deal with two Barclays Premier League defeats as well as the Terry saga.
And according to reports this morning, the Portuguese manager let his team know his feelings at their Cobham training ground yesterday.
Villas-Boas was clearly angry with his players for failing to carry out his tactical instructions on Saturday and it was certainly a shock to see them go down 5-3 to Arsenal in the Stamford Bridge showdown at the weekend.
Sunday’s dressing down was the first time the Portuguese manager has been critical of his players since arriving in London in the summer and it is thought that the squad sat in stunned silence as Villas-Boas told them exactly what he thought of the embarrassing Gunners reverse.
Chelsea just don’t ‘do’ defeats of that nature and Villas-Boas will insist that his team to up the ante against Genk in their Champions League contest tonight. And to arrest their mini-slide domestically, they will be expected to record a comfortable victory over strugglers Blackburn this weekend. But they will have to sort out their defensive issues pretty sharpish – the Blues have not kept a clean sheet for nine top flight matches, sitting nine points behind runaway leaders Man City.
I think it’s safe to say the Chelsea hierarchy will be keen to see an end to the Terry saga as soon as possible. Then, those of us purchasing Chelsea soccer tickets online will be a lot, lot happier with life.
Written by TCB reader Thomas Rooney