When Mourinho's wrath catches up: "You damn bastards! Cowards!"

Even as a child, John Terry moved from West Ham’s academy to Chelsea. At the start of the third millennium, Frank Lampard made the switch from Upton Park to Stamford Bridge, followed shortly after by Joe Cole. They were among the first signings of the Roman Abramovich era and players who would eventually work under Jose Mourinho.

On English soil, Cole won everything with Chelsea - three Premier League titles, an equal number of FA Cups, two League Cups, and one Community Shield. He spent seven years at Stamford Bridge, leaving his deepest mark there, but also had stints at Liverpool, Lille, Aston Villa, Coventry… Cole retired from playing some time ago, now involved in club operations and with plenty of time to write.

His autobiography, Luxury Player, is full of anecdotes, including some juicy stories about Jose Mourinho — a man whose shouting could make everyone in the dressing room feel it in their veins. Outbursts of rage were nothing new to the Special One, and Cole recalls in his book the moments when Mourinho commanded the Stamford Bridge locker room, including some very tense scenes from 2005 after a defeat to Barcelona.

“Your first big team test, and you failed. You went to Camp Nou and hid. Cowards! Zero courage,” Mourinho yelled, moving from player to player.

“He went after Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard… Told them Eto’o and Deco destroyed them. Mourinho cursed in broken English: ‘You, damn bastards! F***ing idiots! No balls!' He was full of anger and disdain, disappointed with Chelsea’s performance. They lost 2-1 in Spain ahead of the London return leg, and everyone was just waiting for their share of criticism…”

“It was a room full of convicts waiting for their turn. He spent 20 seconds on each player, and I was just waiting for my turn. I thought they’d have to carry me off the floor,” Cole recalls.

But for some reason, he skipped one person. Joe Cole.

“When Dafa (Damien Duff, author’s note) came to me, he said we played well, gave everything. I felt like a man with a blindfold in front of a firing squad, yet saved by last-minute mercy,” Cole remembered. He also recalled the moment when the Special One left the locker room in silence: “No one dared even to ‘clear their throat.’”