Chelsea Fc Captain John Terry Says AVB will never be forgettable In my whole career and he did allot of handwork But we couldn't manage it . Since Villas-Boas' sacking, Chelsea have played and won three games, including a stunning turn-around against Napoli in the Champions League, and interim manager Roberto Di Matteo has put the emphasis on the squad's 'old guard' in his team selections.
The improvement in results does not, however, mean that the contribution of Villas-Boas has been swiftly forgotten. Speaking about his former manager in the afterglow of that stirring victory over Napoli, Terry told The Sunday Telegraph: “I’m still in contact with him, like a lot of players here, and probably will remain that way.
“You know on nights like this you don’t forget things like that. He won’t be forgotten. It’s disappointing really because we would have loved things to go on [with him] and he had a vision and a plan and unfortunately that gets cut short with disappointing performances from us really.
“So it has a knock-on effect on him, because at the end of the day we’re the ones out there performing and we weren’t performing as well as we could do. We’ve shown what we can do tonight but still at the same time we don’t forget what he’s done.”
If rumour and media speculation are to be believed, some Chelsea players may have been glad to see the back of the Portuguese manager, but captain Terry wasn't one of them. He valued the support Villas-Boas gave him during the difficult period when he was accused of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand.
Terry said: “The perception from outside is that there are problems in the football club, that senior players run the club, it’s controlled by us, we make decisions. People will continue to write that because they believe that but it’s really not the case and hasn’t been since I’ve been at the football club.
“I think initially when [Chelsea owner] Roman [Abramovich] came in he spoke to the players and wanted advice and he was new to football, he took that on board. I think now he’s got the right people involved and people he can rely on without the players which he does and they make the decisions.”
If Chelsea beat Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday their season will immediately take on a more positive aspect. They will be in the Champions League last eight, have a semi-final spot in the domestic cup, and still have a chance of sneaking into the top four in the Premier League.
The England international isn’t sure what has caused the recent upturn in form, saying: “You can’t put your finger on a certain thing, it’s this, it’s that.
“Things just seem to change really and things have changed for the better for us. But that’s no disrespect to Andre. He started something here so I think credit has to go to him for what he started.
“Unfortunately the club made a tough decision, but the players, we don’t forget what he started at this football club.”
Di Matteo’s next game in charge is the FA Cup tie with the Foxes. With Terry and David Luiz both picking up knocks during the Napoli game he may decide not to risk them, and call upon the services of Jose Bosingwa and Gary Cahill. Terry said: “I was like Douglas Bader at the end.
“It’s been an incredible start for Robbie and for us as well. Robbie said that for two months, everyone needs to give everything, sacrifice everything. If you’re not playing you need to be there for the team.
“The FA Cup has been really special for him in the past and for Chelsea for the last four or five years, so who knows? With the magic of the FA Cup and what could be in the Champions League - this could be one of our finest seasons ever.”
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