John Mikel Obi, ex-Chelsea midfielder, has noted that former club captain, John Terry basically forced Rafael Benitez of the club by ensuring that his contract was not renewed.
Mike made the revelation in an interview with talkSPORT on Wednesday, suggesting that the Spaniard, who previously coached Liverpool, was unpopular in Chelsea dressing room.
In 2012, Chelsea appointed Rafael Benítez as an interim manager after sacking Roberto Di Matteo only six months after he won the Champions League.
Despite leading the Blues to a third-place finish and winning the Europa League, the Spaniard was replaced the following season by Jose Mourinho after his reign as interim manager caused trouble at Cobham.
When asked on talkSPORT’s White and Jordan show whether the Chelsea players were ‘not having the Spaniard’, Mikel smiled, “No, we were not."
He continued, “We made that clear. I think obviously Liverpool was a big rival for us, but coming into the club as well, I think the fans also didn’t like Rafa.
“I think there was something about Rafa and the fans that the fans didn’t take to him. Same as the players, we didn’t accept him as one of us.
“Then we had the thing with Terry where he got dropped and wasn’t playing as much as he wanted. Obviously, Terry always played and Rafa came in and was like ‘you’re not going to play every game’.
“Obviously Terry wanted an explanation, ‘why am I not played?’ and Benitez didn’t give him that.”
Co-host Jim White then asked if the Blues players then got together to solve Terry’s dilemma and conspire to get Benitez out.
“Terry got together by himself and decided yes, your time is gone!” Mikel replied.
Mikel revealed it was Terry who had the biggest say at Stamford Bridge and why his fall out with Benitez always spelt trouble for the Spaniard.
“I think, obviously, one man that actually absolutely did run it was John Terry. Terry was the man. In a good way. On the pitch, Terry was the man.
“Sometimes, when the dressing room was not together, he was the guy that always brought us together. On the pitch, off the pitch, he was the leader.
“Like you’ve just said, there are too many players there with big egos. The likes of Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Peter Cech, Ashley Cole. You know, everyone has their opinion.
“But at the end of the day, Terry was the guy who made the decisions.”
He added, “We had the power. I think Terry, Frank, Didier – Didier was very opinionated, had a lot of voice in the dressing room – Petr Cech, these guys were the ones who ran the dressing room.
“When they feel like ‘ok, this manager is not giving the players what we want, we’re not playing as much as we want, or not enjoying ourselves in the way we want, we’ll come together and figure out a way of getting someone in that we want.”
Mikel also opened up on the heartbreaking time his father was kidnapped in 2018, just hours before playing the biggest match of his career.
Mikel’s dad, Pa Michael Obi, was held captive on the eve of Nigeria’s clash with Argentina at the World Cup in Russia.
It was the second time he had been kidnapped, the first time in 2011 when he was held for 10 days.
Recalling the incident, he said: “My dad got kidnapped while I was playing for the national team at the World Cup 2018 in Russia and we were about to play against Argentina [in the final match of the group stages].
“Two hours before the game I got a phone call from my brother saying that my dad has been kidnapped for the second time in Nigeria.
“He was kidnapped for the first time and I spoke to the kidnappers and they demanded lots of money from me, which I did eventually pay before my dad got released.
“But the second time happened while I was playing for my country and I got this phone call from my brother saying that dad has been kidnapped again for the second time.
“That was absolutely shocking. The first time was shocking, but the second time was even more shocking because I was about to go into one of the biggest games of my life.
“Just knowing that my dad has been kidnapped again was absolutely heartbreaking.
“I couldn't leave the room. I couldn't tell anybody. I was alone in the room for about 30 minutes, thinking what am I going to do? Shall I tell the manager? Shall I tell my teammates? Or should I make an announcement?
“But we're about to go into the biggest game of our lives. We're about to play against Lionel Messi and Argentina.
“So I thought about it. I was like, okay, you know what? I'm going to keep quiet. I called my mum and my brothers, everybody was crying on the phone.
“They were saying no you shouldn't go out and play because you're not going to be able to perform well.
“I took time on my own and I decided that I'm going to go out there and perform. I'm going to go out there and play.
“So I didn't tell anybody. I went on the pitch and I played. Sadly, we didn't win the game and then after that I told everybody.
“In the dressing room the manager and some of the players were almost in tears. They were saying you should have told us and you shouldn't have played.”
Mikel revealed Chelsea's Russian owner Roman Abramovich offered support to him at the time, and praised Liverpool's response to the current situation with Diaz.
"Chelsea were very supportive," the former midfielder added. "I remember Roman [Abramovich] saying do you want me to send people over? Because I know if I send people over, I can get your dad out. I was like, how are you going to do this?
"He said don't worry about that. Just let me, if you want that option, I can do it.
"And I'm happy to see that Liverpool are very supportive. I must give credit to Liverpool for what they're doing."
Mikel continued: “I can relate to Luis Diaz and what he's going through. This kind of situation is where you absolutely have nothing to do.
“You just have to wait because they will call you. They will demand for this and they will demand for that. They will say if you don't do what we want, we're going to shoot your dad. We're going to kill him.
“I had my dad on the phone crying on the phone and saying can you give them what they want because I've been beaten up here and they've got a gun on my head every time saying they're going to kill me.
“I managed to pay lots of money to get my dad released.”
Speaking to Louis Diaz, Liverpool player whose father is currently being held captive by kidnappers, Mikel said: “ I know exactly what you're going through and I hope he stays strong. I know it's a tough time for him as a player. I know what his family as well are going through as well.
“You have your brothers, you have your mum, you have your sisters and what they will be going through is absolutely heartbreaking.
“My message to him is stay strong and do all you can to make sure that your dad is released.”
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