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| Cesc Fabregas was accused of not wanting to win for former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho |
PAT NEVIN has apologised to Cesc Fabregas after implying the midfielder would rather "lose than win" for former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.
BBC presenter Garry Richardson made the stunning revelation on his Sportsweek show last month that an unnamed Chelsea player was poisoning the atmosphere inside the dressing room.
Richardson broached Nevin on the matter during Radio 4's Today programme last week, and Nevin said: "Yeah that was Cesc Fabregas, wasn't it?".
Fabregas, according to the Daily Mail, is believed to be considering pursuing legal action against Nevin.
But Nevin used his column on Chelsea's official website to try to set the record straight.
"At the risk of being self-indulgent I would like to clarify a story that emerged, not for my sake but for Cesc Fàbregas who was unfairly targeted," Nevin wrote.
“During an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme I asked, in passing while talking about some other recent happenings at the club, if the player who said the phrase six weeks ago: ‘I would rather lose than play for José,’ had been outed in the press as Cesc?
"I absolutely wasn’t having a go at Cesc, but asking the question, as the reporter I was talking to was the one who originally broke that story. Basically I thought that this had been the press line in the following days back then.
"At the risk of being self-indulgent I would like to clarify a story that emerged, not for my sake but for Cesc Fàbregas who was unfairly targeted.
"Cesc denied it all at the time of course (honestly as it turns out!) and odd though it may sound I couldn’t have cared less anyway.
"The reason I wasn’t that bothered was because the BBC reporter (a man I like and admire I may add) had made it perfectly clear that it was something said in the heat of the moment, in a fit of anger and it certainly did not mean that player wasn’t going to try for the team really.
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| Jose Mourinho was given his marching orders by Chelsea last week |
"When a story appeared in one of the newspapers this Saturday it was reported as if I was deliberately outing Cesc. Now whether it was mischievous on the newspaper’s part for deliberately misunderstanding me or whether I was not clear enough in what I was saying and the fault was thus partially mine, it doesn’t matter (I accept my accent, diction and even clarity of meaning aren’t always picked up perfectly, especially by some southern ears).
"In short, I did not mean to have a go at Cesc in any way at all; I was merely asking a question.
“At this point I then decided to get all CSI about it and called the original Radio 4 reporter and he obligingly told me that whatever was said or intimated in the press six weeks ago after his story was first aired, it definitively was NOT Cesc Fàbregas who was the culprit!
"So, deep breath, when Cesc got a negative reaction as he was substituted on Saturday, if any of that was anything to do with what I was reported to have said, first I am sorry to Cesc, I absolutely didn’t mean that at all, it was misconstrued, but none the less I apologise.
“Secondly, I plead with the fans they adapt that reaction for the upcoming games. Cesc has released a number of statements of late that have been brave, honest and self-deprecating.
"He has been badly wronged and he didn’t deserve that on Saturday, full stop. I hope that is crystal clear.
"For further clarity, no reporter from that or any other newspaper contacted me to ask for further comment or if they had the story correct, Funny that!
"So that all came from a ‘leaked’ dressing room story a while back and I am certainly not a fan of that sort of behaviour generally, but there is a lot of loose talk in football and to a degree it can’t always be helped."
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