A Chelsea icon opened up about the time he smashed up the dressing room after being humiliated by his manager
Things often got fiery in Chelsea’s dressing room(Image: Getty Images)
Joe Cole revealed he was stunned by Shaun Wright-Phillips’ reaction after the pair were hauled off by Jose Mourinho just 26 minutes into a match. Cole and Wright-Phillips were key components of Chelsea’s attack during their blistering 2005/06 Premier League title-winning campaign, but despite the club’s domestic dominance, tensions occasionally bubbled to the surface.
One such moment came in March 2006, when Chelsea made the very short trip to face Fulham at Craven Cottage. The visitors made a sluggish start and were quickly punished, falling behind after Luis Boa Morte opened the scoring on 17 minutes.
Ever the pragmatist, Mourinho responded with a ruthless early intervention. He hooked both Cole and Wright-Phillips before the half-hour mark, sending on Didier Drogba and Damien Duff in their place.
Early substitutions are rare in football, not only for tactical reasons but also to avoid humiliating the players removed so early. For Cole, however, the feeling went far beyond embarrassment. The former West Ham midfielder admitted he completely lost his cool after returning to the dressing room.
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“You could see, my face was going (Cole growls),” he said while speaking to namesake Ashley and Wright-Phillips on the Could It Be Magic? podcast in March 2025. “I’ve smashed the changing room up, I’ve kicked the massage table, I’m kicking the walls. Anything that was there, I was throwing it like a big spoilt child.”
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However, while Cole was seething, Wright-Phillips remained the picture of composure – a contrast that bemused his team-mate. “Wrighty’s just chilled, taking his socks off,” Cole remembered. “I’m looking at him thinking, ‘How are you so calm?’ And Wrighty’s just like (shrugs).”
Explaining his mindset, Wright-Phillips said: “It’s because I just learned him (Mourinho). That’s what I saw before I came and what I witnessed while I was there. We don’t even have to be playing badly [to be subbed off]. If he sees something else in that game that he can win the game by, he’s going to do it. It doesn’t matter what time in the game it was.”
Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips were both subbed off after just 26 minutes against Fulham in 2006(Image: Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Still struggling to understand, Cole pressed him further. He asked: “But how did you stay so calm? How?” Wright-Phillips replied: “Didn’t you see me when I came off?
“I was laughing in disbelief. Because we didn’t get the ball [enough] to play badly. We just weren’t getting the ball out wide. But he just said, ‘Yeah, yeah, cool, done.'”
Despite the bold changes, Mourinho’s gamble failed to make a breakthrough, despite Chelsea having a goal controversially chalked off. Fulham held on for a 1-0 victory, becoming only the third side to beat Blues in the league that season.
Joe Cole says he smashed up Chelsea’s dressing room after being hooked by Jose Mourinho(Image: Getty Images)
That loss, however, proved insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Chelsea would not be beaten again before sealing their second consecutive Premier League title six weeks later, crowned by a memorable 3-0 victory over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.
Cole played a starring role that day, scoring one of the most iconic goals of his career – collecting the ball on the edge of the box with his back to goal, gliding past three defenders and rifling an unstoppable shot past a helpless Edwin van der Sar.
Wright-Phillips, however, was left out of the squad that faced United – a frustrating omission that summed his disappointing debut campaign in West London. The pair would team together for another two seasons before Wright-Phillips left to re-join Manchester City in 2008.
Chelsea are far from a title-challenging campaign this season, with Liam Rosenior’s side 13 points off leaders Arsenal heading into the weekend. They face West Ham, another of Cole’s former sides, at Stamford Bridge in Saturday’s 5:30pm kick-off.
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