Former Super Eagles skipper, Mikel Obi has recalled how the decision to bench John Terry caused the sack of Rafa Benitez at Chelsea FC.
Benitez was appointed Interim manager of Chelsea FC in 2022 and endured a difficult time off the field as he struggled with discontent by fans and players over his appointment.
In that time, Benitez decided to reduce the playing time of influential Chelsea skipper, John Terry, a decision that never went down well with the Englishman and now Mikel says it played a part in the clubs decision no to hand the Coach a permanent contract.
When asked on his podcast about the relationship at Chelsea with the former Liverpool FC boss, Mikel Obi said ” We made that clear. I think obviously Liverpool was a big rival for us, but coming into the club as well, I think the fans also didn’t like Rafa.
“I think there was something about Rafa and the fans that the fans didn’t take to him. Same as the players, we didn’t accept him as one of us.”
Then we had the thing with JT where JT got dropped, JT wasn’t playing as much as he wanted. Obviously JT always played and Rafa comes in and was like ‘you’re not going to play every game’.
“Obviously JT wanted an explanation, ‘why am I not played?’ and Rafa didn’t give him that.”
Co-host Jim White then asked if the Blues players then got together to solve Terry’s dilemma and conspire to get Benitez out – and Mikel’s answer ended up leaving those in the studio in stitches.
“JT got together by himself and decided yeah, your time is gone!”
Benitez was not entirely unsuccessful at Chelsea FC.
The Spanish manager won the Europa League, qualified for the Champions League, and finished third in the Premier League, but was not given a permanent contract at the end of the season.
