Chelsea not to blame - Villas-Boas

ANDRE VILLAS-BOAS has said Chelsea cannot be blamed for the destructive sequence of events that followed their request that the trial of John Terry for allegedly using racist insults did not start until after Euro 2012.

The club’s chief executive, Ron Gourlay, wrote to Westminster magistrates court to argue that, for all the necessary witness appearances and statements to be accommodated, it would be impossible for Terry’s case to be heard before the end of the domestic and international season. Judge Howard Riddle agreed but when he fixed the date of July 9th for Terry to defend himself against the criminal charge that arose from the flashpoint with the Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand, it provided the trigger for England to lose not only a captain but a manager.

The Football Association decided England could not play at the tournament in Poland and Ukraine under a leader who faced such a charge and it stripped Terry of the armband. Fabio Capello, who had not been consulted, spoke out in Terry’s defence, raged at his authority being undermined and resigned.

“It was a court decision in the end,” Villas-Boas, Chelsea’s manager, said. “We had our preference, of course, but I’m not sure if that preference made an impact on the court’s decision to delay the case. Whatever the consequences of events that ran after, we had nothing to do with it.”

Terry was absent from Chelsea’s training ground for another day, as Villas-Boas held his weekly press briefing, with the captain having been granted leave to rest his injured knee. Terry missed the 3-3 draw against Manchester United on Sunday and he will not play at Everton tomorrow.

Villas-Boas, who said Terry should return for the FA Cup tie against Birmingham City on Saturday week and therefore be available for selection for England’s friendly with the Netherlands on February 29th, said the defender’s absence was “because of his injury, not the turmoil”.

It is difficult, though, to keep Terry out of mind, as English football endured its latest turbulent period. Villas-Boas suggested that the Tottenham Hotspur manager, Harry Redknapp, would be an “outstanding” replacement for Capello but he expressed his surprise that the FA had lost the Italian.

“It shows maybe a lack of communication between both parties,” Villas-Boas said. “Whenever I speak, because I represent the club, I need authorisation. And I’m not sure that was the case in the unfortunate chain of events that led to the parties being in disagreement regarding what was said to Italian TV. But I prefer to focus on Capello, the manager, and the big loss for the national team, which I hope can be recovered by finding the adequate person for the job.

“It will be very, very difficult for the FA to find a manager with Fabio’s CV because it is one of the best in the world.

“He had a spectacular qualification for Euro 2012 and it comes to an end before the tournament, which I think is hard to take for the English national team.”

Guardian Service