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FourFourTwo's very own Ed McCambridge has some big questions for Chelsea legend John Terry! From his time as Chelsea captain, to the transfers under Roman Abramovich, title victories with Jose Mourinho, troubles in the England team camp and dealing with his Champions League Final penalty miss, the legendary Premier League centre back tells all!
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When 4-4-2 were invited to share a cab and a chinwag with a member of England's golden generation
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and arguably the greatest player in Chelsea's history, our answer was obvious
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Isn't Frank Lampard a little bit busy with commentary to actually do this? Thankfully, they were actually talking about John Terry and of course, we jumped at the chance
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So come along with me, Ed McCambridge, as we jump in the back of this cab with the legendary blue skipper to talk everything from this year's Club World Cup
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to the ups and downs of his glittering career. It shocked football with Abramovich coming in, spending that sort of money
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These superstars started arriving, Makaleli, Damian Duff, great players from the league as well, Mutu
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What was it like from the inside watching that happen? Was it a little bit of you worried, thinking, hang on a minute
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Or were you thinking, wow, this is something else? Well, firstly excited. Didn't really know much of Roman, first of all
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But then you hear the reports in the papers and stuff about his wealth
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and what he's going to throw into the club. And then you get into the training ground and we're signing these big players
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And then we're signing centre-half. And you're like, oh, I'm not too keen on this
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But also it kind of pushed me to a level of going, you need to get better
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If you don't get better, we'll sign other players. And Mourinho was very direct with that, with the whole group
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Roman's message was very clear to the players that we want success and we want it very quickly
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And he supported us incredibly well. Give us a new training ground year one when Mourinho would come in
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which really set the tone for the group. We used to train at Harleton, which was port of cabins on a Wednesday afternoon
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We'd get thrown out by college. You know, there was no food on a Wednesday. It was really unprofessional
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But in terms of what he brought in and give us the foundations and the best opportunities
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to work from, like the best owner in world football, stayed away, got involved when he
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needed to get involved but I understood that he brought in the best manager so let the
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best manager control the football club and Mourinho had done that from top to bottom
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Obviously Mourinho coming in was a real game changer for the whole Premier League, not
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only a brilliant manager but suave, cool, exotic. What an impact he had and what was he like with you
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Well, the impact he had winning the Champions League with Porto and then arrives at Chelsea and obviously everyone remembers a press conference
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about him being the special one. What did you think about that, by the way? Well, the players have been calling each other a game
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Oh, have you seen this? I think we could be in trouble here. But listen, he come and met us
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We were due to go to the Euros in Portugal, actually, and he come to meet us at the England hotel
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And the aura that he had, like, was sitting there and we're, like, lapping it up. Everything he said, we're like
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oh my God, we're going to win the league. He just kept repeating, we're going to win the league next year
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and you boys are going to be a big part of that. I need my English players to help and support me This is your football club And it was a really powerful message that first meeting with him And then when we went into the football club yes he was demanding he demanded a lot from the staff from the players
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But like I said before, we've never seen anyone work in the way that he worked
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And the detail he gave us before Premier League games and finals and Champions League games
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honestly I've still not seen anyone work to that level still today. Those first two years in particular, the first one I think was the then record number of points
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least goals conceded, it was an absolutely ridiculous first season and then you obviously go on and defend the title
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You played for a long time after that. Was that the best team you think you played for in your entire career
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It's got to be up there. I think so, just how solid we were as well. So he was renowned for kind of parking the bus and all of that, which wasn't really the case
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I mean, he used to kind of go mad at the full-backs for bombing on too much and stuff like that
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but we had a really well-balanced squad and I think year two become more difficult
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because we had a target on our back and everyone wanted to beat us and we felt that. You know, like you'd go away from home
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and teams would come at you and stuff. All of a sudden we were playing like Stoke away and they'd grow the pitch long
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and it was really dry on a summer's day like today. The ball moved around the pitch slowly
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and he always found a way just to cement a few ideas
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that changed the game and get us the three points at the end of it. But it got tougher
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Obviously first year was very good, second year was incredible to go again and then we found it tough and naturally top teams bounced back, so Man United bounced back and we had to then go again as well
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So not only for Chelsea, I think Roman deserves a lot of credit for what he's done for the Premier League
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After getting closer and closer every year, Chelsea reached the Champions League final in 2008
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Obviously it ended in a bad way for you, you missed that penalty
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our users just wanted to know how long it took for you to get over that
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and whether you are still over that and it was such a traumatic moment for you
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yeah really hard actually because firstly the Champions League is probably the hardest
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trophy I think to win in domestic football so I'm still not over that today
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I still have moments where I wake up not as often as I did when I still played but I still wake up
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and it's there it's moments that You know, sometimes as an ex-player you look at the trophies you've won, but also it's the ones that escape you a little bit
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And it's those ones that really annoy you. So that and a few other moments in my career
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But I don't think I'll ever get over it. I think it's part of the journey. And when people say that at the time, you're like, I don't want to hear that
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I really don't. It's a difficult moment. And the worst thing for me was after that, we played America at Wembley
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So, finished out we have to go back. So now we're sharing the dining table
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and the dining room with the Man United players. And to be fair, they were all good as gold
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like understood the significance of it. But then three days later, I scored from a header outside the box
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And I just, that night, it really kind of hit me because it was like break up go away for your holidays And I was like why can that moment just swap with that one You know it rains I slip
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Yeah, it's just one of those kind of sliding door moments that you can't change, but it'll always stick with you
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I'm just delighted that in 2012 we went on to win it because, you know, it's an unbelievable trophy and very difficult, like I said
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Just going back to before that Champions League win, I asked you about Andre Villes-Boas
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It was a little bit strange because he'd always been Jose's kind of ysis guy and data guy and would be the guy with the laptop
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And then the next thing, he's in managing the side. So for some, it was difficult to take. I can't speak for who, but I was fine with it
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I judged him with how we coach and how we kind of came across
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And I think as a coach, I think he was excellent. Some of the ideas he had in the way to see the game, honestly, was very, very, very good
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but in terms of how we see things like bizarre stuff like that
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with the plane and stuff but I know even that I've had a bit of stick going oh you're upset
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because you're not in first class it's not there's a you know when you come through the academy
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and you're on the team bus with Dennis Wise everything's a test
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it's like as soon as you sit down make me a coffee and they wait
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they don't tell you they want free coffees you sit down then someone else will say make me a coffee
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and you're travelling to Manchester a four hour journey and all you're doing is making coffees for the players, which for me is part of the journey
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I'll get up as many times as you want, it's a test, let's get up and do it. And I think for these guys, sometimes you've got to earn it
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When you cement your place in the team, that ticket or whatever that may be on the plane
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is rewarded for your performances and stuff. And the younger players were good at gold of it, it wasn't them that was the problem
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Then he tries to out the senior players as well a little bit
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like Lambs, Didier kind of started dropping them. Ashley was the same as well, which was a big, big call
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They were our best players. I had a couple of frank conversations with him
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and was like, you're mad about this the wrong way. Like, he went with his way and done it his way
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and eventually he got sacked. But as a person, he was a lovely fella
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In terms of coach, I really liked his ideas. And maybe Chelsea was just too soon, too early for him
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But one of those things that when you have players worth 50, 60, 70 million and they're
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your best players, it's a big fight to pick and I think you picked it with the wrong guys
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I want to talk to you about another manager that came in afterwards, Antonio Conte. It was the last Premier League title that you won
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I wanted to ask you about the switch to the back three because obviously you were never known for searing pace but you were a little bit older at that point as well so had lost
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another yard probably. Do you think that back three helped you? You were brilliant again that season
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That definitely didn't help me. You didn't have to extra cover though either side to give you a..
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Yeah, it wasn't really like that. I felt it kind of isolated you even more if that makes sense
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Listen, I was comfortable, I read the game well, people speak about my pace and stuff
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I not sure there too many videos of me really getting opened up working in pace or being out of position But in terms of when Conte first came in he sat down and was like I want to play three at the back with all the defenders
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And to be fair, we all sat down and went, oh, we don't like it. Just being honest, as you would with the manager, he's like, what do you like
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And we had this big debate and he was like, OK, I'm going to stick with four
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Because we had Branagh right back. And it was one of those going, no, he stayed with us
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had gone four at the back, three in midfield, three up front, and we played a few games
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and we'd been winning games, but we'd been scraping through games, like we won at home
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and against West Ham, then we played Swansea away, and I think after about 57 minutes
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I think I twisted my ankle, and it's probably the best thing that happened to Chelsea Football
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Club that year, and to Conte, because after that, we went to three at the back, I was
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out for about five or six weeks, and then Antonio brought me in, as I was kind of coming
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back to training and stuff and he was like this is really difficult for me I was like just let me
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stop you I said like you don't need to explain yourself to me I'm loving what I'm seeing the
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boys are unbelievable and he was like it's just a relief and I didn't play I played like barely
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any minutes but we was we was absolutely superb that year and it's down to us going to three at
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the back because it suited the team he knew the formation he was very well drilled in terms of
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his tactics and how he wanted to play and the players brought into it
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I have to ask you about your final game as a Chelsea player
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Brilliant send-off. I think it was the 26th minute, wasn't it? His shirt number, the Guard of Honour against Sunderland
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Did you have to clear that with him? I think Moyse was a Sunderland manager. Obviously, it's a real halt in the middle of the game, isn't it
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Obviously, what's the story there? Yeah, so I'd always known because we had Arsenal in the FA Cup final
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I think, two weeks later. So for me, it was like, I want to play as less minutes as possible because Gaz and David need to play and keep their kind of rhythm and stuff like that
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So, okay, why don't I come off in the 26th minute, my last game, what a thing to do
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Unbelievable. So Antonio was like, mate, whatever you want to do, if you want to play the 19th
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I was like, no, I spoke to Gaz and spoke to David and those guys, they were like, I'd rather play
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So Gaz was on the bench and as captain, you go in and meet the referees before the game
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So Pigford come in from Sunderland and we're in there. I was like guys listen my last day but if it's on like 25 minutes just literally hold the ball
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go and explain to your boys that on 26 minutes I'm coming off but it has to be 26 it really like
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means a lot to me and on 25 minutes the ball goes back 25 34 I think it was goes back to
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Pickford then he kind of bounced it and pinged it out of play and as it's gone out 26 minutes there
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but you watch the timing of it it's 26 minutes and it's like
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sub comes I come off to a stand ovation the Chelsea boys
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obviously knew what I was doing and stuff so again just a real special moment
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that I thought of a couple of days before that I wanted to do JT
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that was an absolute pleasure sir thank you so much that was perfect
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