John Terry - en bättre bild

Don't judge a book by it's cover (from talkchelsea forum)

This is an article about John Terry written by a former youth Chelsea player who currently plays in Iceland, Sam Tillen. I translated the whole thing from Icelandic so don't expect it to be perfectly written. Never the less it's a very good read and shows a side of John Terry most media and non Chelsea fans choose to ignore.

Vi har lånat ovan och nedanstående text från The Shed, men det är fortfarande en ögonvittnesskildring av någon som känner John Terry bättre än de flesta av oss, en spelare som spelat och tränat med honom, Sam Tillen.
    Vi Chelseasupportrar vet ju dock redan att ingen kapten eller spelare någonsin i klubbens historia förmodligen har varit en större källa till stöd och uppmuntran internt i klubben än John Terry, trots en viss förmåga att ställa till det för sig utanför (för han har onekligen visat lite sämre omdöme vid några tillfällen, jag tänker då inte på lögnerna och fabrikationerna från News of the World, kring Wayne Bridges före detta flickvän, utan mer på flygplatsincidenten och en viss nattklubbsincident i Kensington. JT har också färgats av sin familjs förmåga att skämma ut sig, både hans bror, far och mor har ju förekommit i mindre smickrande mediesammanhang, association by guilt kallas det på engelska). Vi har också sett, läst, hört dussintals intygande från spelar och managers e av olika ras och färg att han absolut inte är någon rasist, oavsett vad som kan yttrats. Det är långt mellan att vara rasist och säga något sällsynt dumt i stridens hetta, om det nu sas - jag överlåter det åt den engelska rätten att döma i även om det nog står rätt klart att så hade aldrig skett om det gällt en mer anonym person. Rasism kan aldrig tillåtas och även dumma yttranden ska straffas, men ingen ska straffas ohörd som principen säger.

Den här berättelsen kommer att hjälpa er att få ett större perspektiv på John Terry, en Chelsea legend och kulturbärare som CSFC.SE redan skrivit om tidigare (se till höger).

Sam Tillen:

"As football fans we don't get a lot of oppurtunities to judge a player's persona, all we get is stuff from the newspaper and other medias and of course how the player acts on the football pitch. It's normal that our feelings towards them base on those things since we don't know them personally. But unfortunately this can be very deceiving.

Sometimes reporters can have a lot of propaganda. They could have had an argument with the player, be friends with his ex wife or support a rival club. When a player steps on the field on a saturday the whole world watches him play under the pressure of his life. Players, managers and supporters have all been waiting for this moment - kick off. It's abnormal to judge people's behaviour under these circumstances. Do you think that when Gary Neville wins a game of hide and seek with his daughter he yells at his wife "Come on!!!!" while he holds on to his shirt like he did in front of Liverpool supporters at Old Trafford? I think not.

When you are around the training ground you get to see the players in they're true form. Some of them surprise and charm you while others dissappoint you. This would also be the case if you meet someone in real life. The fact that footballers are famous does not make them any different. They just have talent in a specific field just like doctors or architects. Some of them are good people, others are not.

The year 2002 I was 17 and had been injured for eight monts. I usually had to train twice as much to be in form. I trained with several players during rehabilation and since John Terry was facing injury as well I trained a lot with him. We trained together for 3 or 4 weeks before he began to play again and prove himself as the number one center back in the first team. After this John always observed how I was doing with my injury and he wished me good luck for my first game after 11 months of rehabilation. Unfortunately in that first game I got heavily injured again and had to go to surgery 3 days later. When the physio came to visit me he said that "JT" had asked if I could get vacation and he even asked Graeme (Le Saux) if they could use the "discipline fund" (money if a player comes late to a training and such) from the first team to pay for my vacation. I couldn't believe it.

After staying home for ten days I went to the training ground and John was there. He asked how I was doing and then said "Me and Graeme have arranged for you to go to a vacation, you can go wherever you want, with your friend or your brother, you deserve something good. Just think about where you want to go, this isn't your money! Just let us know how much it costs and we will arrange it.

I didn't know what to say other than thank you. I talked to the youth and reserve coaches and they told me it was probably best for me to take the vacation. One of the reserve coach said that I still had that "hospital color" because I was as white as a ghost. I lost a lot of blood in the surgery it showed in my face.

My mother had also just had surgery so she could use a a little break from work. That's why I wanted to take her with me. It was october so I needed to find "some place hot" like John advised me to do. The one place close that was hot enough was south spain and because this wasn't my money I didn't want to take advantage of the generosity from John. So the next day during practice I said to John "Is it okay if me and my mother go to Sevilla over the weekend?" His answer was, "Come on Tills! You can go wherever you want for free, why do you want to go there? It won't even be hot. Look at it again, go to the caribbeans or something, you can sit at the beach without having to worry how much it is going to cost, we will make sure of it."

So I went and checked again and found a good offer for a trip to Tobago. I talked to my physio for a few days and he said "It's fine, just talk to JT." I still felt bad spending other people's money, I had never done that before. So naturally I was a little nervous when I was talking to John, telling him about the trip I had in mind. And what did John say?

"No problem, good choice! Just give me the info and we'll pay it."
He arranged everything and the day before I was leaving for the trip he called me over in the dressing room. "Tills, your going tomorrow, right?" He went to his pocket and took out 100 pounds. "Here, some pocket money to spend". I said that I couldn't accept it. He asked again and again I refused. Then he stood up and said "you're not going anywhere until you accept this!". I had no choice.

When I came back from the trip I was renewed and a part of the reason was that I was finally ready to play football again, 6 months after my surgery. In my first game after the injury (in the youth team) we were playing Crystal Palace on our training ground. The first team wasn't suppose to have training until 3pm but our game was at 10am. John came to see me play, 5 hours before his training. He came just to see if I would get through the game, which happened. He certainly didn't have to do that, but he did.

When by brother Joe was in the youth team, John paid for driving lessons for every single player in the youth team because he knew how expensive it was when you only get 80 punds a week in the youth team. The youth players just had to tell him how much it costed and John paid it next day. In that time when the youth players were cleaning the first team players shoes everyone wanted to get one of the 'sharks', John, Frank Lampard, Jody Morris or Eiyour Smári because they gave the highest "christmas bonus". Some players didn't give any bonus even though the youth players had cleaned they're shoes for 6 months. John didn't ony gve high bonuses, but he even paid for the youth players fines if he thought they were being treated unfairly. Of course, he told them not to say a soul.

John has never forgotten what it was like to be a player in the youth team and he is the perfect captain. He was always available if you wanted to talk to him. He always asked every youth player how they were doing in the team. If he heard that you played well in a match, he congratulated and encouraged you. He really had an interest. He never forgot the young players. He was always monitored the youth players including me. For instance, he found an agent for me that I signed with. When youth players traveled with the first team he always made sure that they got they're bonuses, that made alot of difference in they're paychecks. He helped them adapt and welcomed them in to a new environment. On the pitch and the training ground he was magnificent, he had an heart like a lion. He trained after practices, always did that little extra. We really looked up to him.

It wasn't just the youth players either. There are endless stories of his kindness and generosity, stories that never left the training ground. One of them stands out. We had an old masseuse that was called Al, one day his car broke down for good. He said that he couldn't attend to trainings anymore because it was very difficult for a man of his age to use public transportations. One day after practice John told him to go to the parking lot and close his eyes. When he opened them he saw a brand new car. John had asked every player in the first team to chip in to buy Al a new car. The old man started to cry. This all happened before Roman Abramovich and before John was a superstar and started making big money.

Last year Al got seriously sick and had to be in a hospital. When John found out he immediately contacted him. Al was flattered to hear from him and his wife was delighted that John had taken the time to hink about him. John visited Al regularly until he passed away and John, of course, attended his funeral.

Marcel Desailly, the captain before him, didn't do anything like the things John did. He couldn't care less about the young players or anyone else in the club for that matter. As a player he was impeccable but as a captain he did nothing and wasn't even close to what John is. In my first and second year in the youth team it was our job to get signed shirts from players from the first team, those shirts where then sent to fans or to a charity. We all stood in a row in the hallway before practices when the first team players walked passed us and then they signed the shirts. When Mr. Desailly came he usually pretended to be on the phone so he didn't have to do anything. We were like "Marcel, uuuuuumm, Marcel, could you please....." and then he was gone. Disappointment.

Some players cause you a lot of disappointment when you meet the personally. They also do that in daily life. John has, of course, had a few problems outside of the field that has gotten a lot of press but I will always remember how he treated me when I was a teenager. No one else would have done that or even think about it. He is no saint but there is a reason why Chelsea fans, players and staff look at John Terry as a real leader.