Post by QPR Report on Dec 21, 2008 0:47:57 GMT
The Observer - Scolari's man slams 'liars' over leaks
Luiz Felipe Scolari has denied Alex wants to leave the club. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/Reuters
A statement released on behalf of Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has branded as "liars" a number of "unscrupulous individuals", whom he accuses of leaking untrue stories to newspapers in a bid to unsettle players and the club.
The statement comes at a time when there are concerns at Chelsea about players' representatives and their relationship with the media.
The explosive comments were released by Scolari's personal media adviser, Acaz Fellegger, who works for the Brazilian on non-club matters. It said: "Luiz Felipe Scolari laments that unscrupulous individuals outside the club, acting for their own benefit or trying to make profit, tell lies to the general public through the press."
The statement, issued in Brazil, went on to deny there are any issues with players questioning Scolari's tactics and authority: "Not a single player in Chelsea's squad has contested the substitutions made in English championship or Champions League games. There has been no kind of criticism, comment or complaint from any player."
It added: "There is not the slightest foundation to information that he [Scolari] will be able to take charge of the Brazilian national team next year."
It is understood that Scolari may have known only about the section of the statement concerning the denial of him making a return to coach the Brazil team he successfully led to the 2002 World Cup, and not the remainder. But Observer Sport can confirm that he and Chelsea are concerned that players' representatives may be leaking disruptive stories to media outlets.
The statement was later withdrawn as the club sought to limit its potential damage, but its presence in the pubic domain will do little to help Chelsea's attempts to keep all their affairs on-message, a task that proved almost impossible when José Mourinho was head coach.
One of the stories that prompted the release of the statement is almost certainly the one, in two newspapers last week stating that the Brazilian defender Alex wants to leave Stamford Bridge.
At the press conference yesterday, ahead of the club's trip to play Everton at Goodison Park tomorrow, Chelsea's top media executive was present primarily because of the club's desire to ensure Scolari stayed on-message and did not broach the subject of a legal action the club is taking against two media outlets about other stories published last week.
Scolari's and the club's silence was, the media executive told journalists, to ensure the stories were not rerun.
Asked specifically about whether Alex was unhappy and wanted to leave Chelsea in January, Scolari said: "He came to see and said to me he not say anything, and I believe in my players. If he came to me and say, 'I don't give interview,' I don't need to answer about this. Because if he don't give interview about this and some newspaper write something [then] no discussion, I need to believe my players."
Pressed continually on the matter Scolari said: "Look, he's happy. He came to me yesterday and said, 'I don't give interview'. Who [actually] give interview, I don't know. What's happened is not my business, and I believe my players don't give interview. So, OK if you happy, then finish."
Asked how many times the same story needed to appear before Scolari might question if a player was still telling the truth he said: "How many times will I believe my players? One million per cent ... If you write one million stories I say, 'No.' I believe my players.
"Maybe now is the time for the agents to speak. They try to do the best for the players. These agents they need to live - I know this."
Privately, Scolari and the club are thought to have identified precisely where the Alex story came from. And are taking measures to address the general problem of leaks.