By ROB BEASLEY
THERE’S only one boss at Stamford Bridge and it is not Roberto Di Matteo.
Just as it was never Carlo Ancelotti, Big Phil Scolari, Andre Villas-Boas or even the Special One, Jose Mourinho.
Billionaire owner Roman Abramovich is the one man in charge at Chelsea, says ex-Blues star Salomon Kalou.
And woe betide anyone who forgets it.
Kalou, giving his first interview since quitting Chelsea for French club Lille, revealed: “Roman has his vision and he knows how he wants things to happen.
“He has the idea ‘I want to run this club, I want things to work’.
“Players can forget and think ‘Oh, Chelsea have been at the top for eight years, we don’t have to work hard and I will play anyway’.
“It’s important to remind players that ‘You may have been here for eight years, but I can change the team any time I want so you’d better get back to the pitch and do the job right’.
“That’s the role of the owner — to remind everyone that he is the only boss and players should be working for the best interests of the club, not individuals.
“Roman told us off twice — once in Carlo’s time and we won the Double and again after AVB and we won the Champions League.
“The results are so positive you can’t criticise him because he’s won everything.”
Kalou is not expecting Red Rom to change, even though he has finally achieved his ultimate ambition — seeing Chelsea crowned Champions of Europe.
The Ivory Coast international explained: “Roman’s normally very reserved and quiet and doesn’t talk a lot.
“But when he does you listen and maybe if he backs off it won’t be the same.
“Roman always brought the best manager and players to the club and helped everyone to win something.
“That’s the only thing that matters because, at the end of the day, I look back at Chelsea and say ‘I won everything’.
“It was was the best experience of my career and any other player would dream of having it at any other club.”
Kalou admitted there were moments of uncertainty, confusion and disruption during his six seasons at SW6.
Worst was the managerial merry-go-round which saw some of the game’s biggest names come and go in double-quick time. Kalou, 27, confessed: “I think it’s better to have stability.
“Some clubs have an identity with the way they play like Manchester United, Arsenal, Barcelona, because they keep their coaches for so long.
“With Jose Mourinho we had that but when he left, it was kind of difficult to have that again because we kept changing managers.
“Every time I got to the level where I had convinced a manager I should be in the team and play regularly, the manager got sacked.
“Then you have to go back to the beginning when a new manager comes in.
“You have to convince him all over again and when you do, HE gets sacked. You go through the same emotion every season and you think it’s never going to happen for you.”
The most controversial sacking was that of AVB in his first season at the club.
And Kalou blames the players, NOT the owner.
He said: “It’s easy to hide and say ‘It’s not the players’ fault, it’s the manager’.
“But, as players, we had to take responsibility and know it wasn’t right that it happened to a young manager.”
Kalou also revealed the constant upheavals distracted the players at times, like the shock dismissal of coach Ray Wilkins during Ancelotti’s reign. Kalou added: “When things happen, players start asking ‘What’s going on?’ and end up focusing during a game about things that are going wrong at the club.
“There was an injustice in sacking Wilkins in the middle of the season because we were doing well.
“But choices are made and there are reasons for them.”
And Kalou even argues that all the hirings and firings, the buying and selling and off-field scandals helped forge an unshakeable team spirit within the group.
He grinned: “That’s what makes Chelsea Chelsea. There’s always something going on.
“We constantly coped with that and it made us stronger. Mentally, the strongest team in England for the last six years has been Chelsea.
“And because we went through difficult moments, when we went to Bayern Munich we knew we had a lot to lose.
“It was impossible to think we were not going to win the Champions League.”
And the ex-Blue is sure Chelsea will do well in the tournament again this year.
He said: “Roman has a new vision. He wants to build a new team and a new style of play for his club.
“So I hope it works out for them again.”
