John Terry aired his frustration at not being given the opportunity to become Chelsea interim boss last season.
The legendary ex-Chelsea captain has long dreamt of getting the role but was snubbed following the sacking of Enzo Maresca in January.
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Lightning struck twice in the space of a few months for the 45-year-old when Liam Rosenior’s stint in the Stamford Bridge dugout came to a premature end, only to be overlooked once more.
Terry, who vented his disappointment at losing out to Calum McFarlane in April, was this week given the floor to discuss his feelings in detail.
The former England captain joined Piers Morgan and talkSPORT’s Simon Jordan on a World Cup-themed show titled Sports Uncensored and passionately gave his versions of events.
Terry received the backing of host Morgan who felt the star had been hard done by.
Morgan’s endorsement
Morgan said: “When Rosenior was made the manager of Chelsea, the idea that he would do a better job for Chelsea than you, with all your experience and the fact that blue blood runs through your veins…
“I thought that was borderline offensive to you, that they would choose somebody so out of his depth, so amateurish, so, kind of, weird, over someone like you.”
Jordan appeared to object to Morgan’s claims commenting “Oh Piers…Piers.”
But that only prompted Terry to unleash his true feelings on the matter.
He said: “Now, Piers, you’re 100 per cent spot on, and Simon can have his view on it.
“But firstly I’ll address the Chelsea one. I’ve never thought that I could be Chelsea manager.
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“But when an opportunity comes up and a manager leaves the football club and Chelsea are looking for an interim manager, there was no one in the buildings, the academy building or the first team building, that was more qualified than me in terms of their qualifications.
“More importantly, and above all of that, whether it was for one game or two games, there was no one more Chelsea than me.
“And again, touching the supporters, give the supporters what they wanted at that specific time.
“Now, did I think that I deserve to be the Chelsea manager long-term? Absolutely not.
“Chelsea is way bigger than me. If I want to go into that, I need to go on my journey to then eventually get the Chelsea job.”
Terry is yet to be handed a permanent managerial position but remains part of the Chelsea family with his part-time role in the club’s academy.
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‘I deserved more’
Asked whether he was annoyed by McFarlane’s appointment as interim boss after Rosenior’s sacking, he replied: “Not annoyed, probably more frustrated because I was certainly part of that 21s group that went over.
“So even if I didn’t take the team – Calum took the team, did really well, got a result out of the game – I feel like I should have been part of that.
“Now listen, people have got to make decisions. I love it when people make decisions and they go ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
“Clearly the ownership or whoever made those decisions, the sporting directors, have gone ‘no’ not to include me for whatever reason, I don’t know why.”
Despite his frustration, Terry bore no hostility to McFarlane who was part of Rosenior’s coaching team during his short tenure.
And the former Southampton youth coach is to continue his duties under incoming Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso.
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“I’m not sure what Calum’s backroom staff is going to look like. I’ve not had a call, I’ve not had a message,” the former Blues’ skipper added.
“I will be continuing my role in the academy, I will be in the academy tomorrow, we’ve got a big couple of games coming up.
“But listen, we’ll all get behind Calum, he did a great job at Man City away previously, and we’ll get behind the boys.”
Terry then addressed Jordan but listed off his list of accolades while trying to convince the former Crystal Palace owner that he had paid his dues.
Terry said: “I spent four years doing my badges, travelling up and down the country.
“I spent three and a half years at Aston Villa being assistant manager to Dean Smith, living away from my family to enable myself to walk into a job or get a job.
“And I’m not talking Premier League level or Championship level.
“The jobs I interviewed for were for League One and I still didn’t get the opportunity to do that.”
Jordan, who previously questioned Terry’s desire to become a manager, aimed to set the record straight on what Terry and Morgan had spouted earlier in the show.
“John, with respect, this isn’t a particularly grown up conversation because you’re characterising Liam Rosenior incorrectly,” Jordan said.
“The reason why Liam Rosenior was given the Chelsea job, as flawed as it was, and it’s inconceivable that he was going to have the tool kit, was because he’d been under the BlueCo management at Strasbourg and had been illustrating the capabilities and characteristics of somebody they wanted to invest in.
“And because Maresca had a bloody turn, they brought him forward too early.”
