Off the back of listening to the John Obi Mikel Podcast this week, which is excellent by the way and highly recommended, it has left me feeling truly gutted that John Terry may never become a football manager.
Terry admitted that he has not done any coaching for well over a year, and as we know, he is now turning his attentions to advisory roles in Saudi Arabia.
The Blues legend is also keeping his role in the Chelsea academy, but that is also more of an ambassador role rather than coaching.
It’s a crying shame, and it actually made me feel really bad, that Terry will likely now never become a Chelsea manager, or a manager of any team.
He did say never say never, but he was negative and noticeably really down on the fact that he doesn’t think he will make it as a manger.
“It really hurts I’ve not been given the opportunity to be a manager and unfortunately now I’ve realised it’s never going to happen,” Terry told his former team mate Obi Mikel this week. “I promised I would one day be Chelsea manager but unfortunately I’ve realised that’s never going to happen.”
You could see the hurt in his eyes when he was saying these words – he is devastated.
Terry did promise he would return as Chelsea manager one day, and it is not for a want of trying that he hasn’t.
Terry said he was literally sat waiting for the call from Frank Lampard last season when he was interim boss, but that call never came. Terry said he was excited to get the call even, but it never came.
“I did think I would get a call but it didn’t come – I was quite excited about potentially joining that setup,” Terry continued. “I fully understand Frank’s decision though.”
And the decision was just basically that Lampard had his idea of the staff he wanted, and there was no room for Terry.
I guess truly, only Lampard will know the reason for this and why he didn’t get Terry in, because as we know, the pair had a great relationship whilst playing together at Chelsea.
Mikel also spoke on the Podcast about how great Terry would be as a manager and that he was always the vocal one on the dressing room and the player everyone looked up to. Mikel is shocked that Terry has not gone further into management, and so am I.
Terry mentioned that he feels it could be that some people might think that he would be too overpowering, too aggressive, or try to get involved with sporting directors and decision makers. He didn’t see any other clear reason why he hasn’t been given a managerial job, and he admitted to having plenty of interviews and knock-backs for roles of late.
But it sounds like he’s given up on that dream, and that does pain me.
I think Terry would be a really good manager once he had fully learned his trade and got some experience. But it looks like there wasn’t any club willing to give him that experience.
Chelsea obviously still like having him around involved in the club, but Terry also admitted that he never speaks with the current owners or sporting directors, and they don’t have much to do with him.
But Mauricio Pochettino on the other hand, has welcomed Terry in.
“Since Poch came in he’s been excellent,” Terry said. “Since my retirement he’s the only manager [not including Lampard] who’s put his arm round me and said ‘JT you come over here whenever you want’ and it’s the only time I’ve felt comfortable going into the first team building.”
That also pains me to hear. It seems like Chelsea, or rather whichever manager has been in charge at the time, has not been keen to get Terry involved in first team operations, for whatever reason. But Poch has.
That to me is just another sign of how Poch just gets the club and gets the culture. How can having someone like John Terry in and around the building be anything but beneficial? If you are a young player and you see Terry, why would you not take the opportunity to go and chat with him and seek some advice or pointers? He’s been there, done it, got the T-Shirt, owned the T-Shirt, won it all, and become a club captain, leader, and legend. He bleeds blue and he knows what it takes to succeed in blue.
Terry is still young so you never know, maybe a coaching door does open up for him again one day down the line. There’s plenty of time for his fortunes to change there. It absolutely baffles me as to why he hasn’t been given a chance to be manager, I honestly think he would become a great one. I know it’s not a given (it never is), but for him to not even get a chance to, is absolutely criminal in my eyes.
I think Terry will force himself to always be involved with Chelsea in one way or another, and who knows, he still wants to be an investor/part-owner, so maybe one day he doesn’t come back as a manager, he comes back as a chairman or an owner!! Imagine that!?
He will always remain Chelsea’s biggest fan. And for me, I still have this vision of him becoming a Chelsea manager. But it’s disheartening to see that he has given up on that dream, because it truly is a dream for him.
For those wishing to watch the whole episode, and I really recommend you do, it can be viewed below.
Obi opens up the show mocking Terry for wearing the full kit on that amazing night! It’s hilarious!
