Ashley Cole reveals sacking of Andre Villas-Boas

Former Chelsea defender Ashley Cole has revealed the truth behind the sacking of manager Andre Villas-Boas.

The Portuguese manager lasted only nine months at Stamford Bridge before he was replaced by Roberto di Matteo, who went on to win the Champions League in the same year. Villas-Boas was regarded as a bright prospect at the time of becoming a Chelsea boss. However, things soon turned ugly for the Portuguese after a bad run of results left the club fighting for a top four place. Cole, who has since moved to Roma on a free transfer in the summer, says that some Chelsea players were guilty of not working hard under Andre Villas-Boas.

It is a long-held belief that Villas-Boas tried to change things a little too soon, as the likes of Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba were put on the fringes of the first-team. Cole also found limited playtime during the regime of Villas-Boas, but soon returned to first team after Di Matteo was put in charge. Unsurprisingly, Cole played a vital part in Chelsea’s Champions League success that campaign. Even though he has found a new home at Roma, the 33-year-old continues to be linked with clubs from abroad like New York City FC.

Even after his poor performance against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Roma coach Rudi Garcia has backed Cole to be a success. "There were some players who didn't want to work hard for Villas-Boas. But as soon as [Roberto] Di Matteo arrived, that all changed," said Cole. He also said that former England boss Sven Goran Eriksson remains his favourite boss."Eriksson allowed us to be ourselves. We enjoyed playing for England under him.At the time, the English media made us out to be the best in the world, but we rarely really were and that put us under excessive pressure," said Cole.