When news broke on Thursday night that Steve Clarke had handed in his notice, I wondered whether things could possibly get any worse – and it appears they can, because Chelsea have decided to turn it into the usual circus by refusing to accept Clarke’s resignation.

Chelsea are said to be furious that West Ham made an approach for Clarke, who wants to join them as Gianfranco’s number 2 and permission has not been granted for the Scot to talk with the East London club.

Initial reports suggested Chelsea were seeking compensation in the region of £1million, although as is usually the case, this has risen significantly, depending on which paper you happen to read. Clarke has 2 years remaining on his £600,000 a year contract and the suggestion is that West Ham naturally assumed they could buy that out for £1.2million. However, according to The Times, Chelsea are asking for £4.8million, although quite why they’d be looking for 8 times his current salary The Times haven’t made clear. What they have suggested though is that Chelsea’s stance is related to their own experiences of extortion at the hands of Spurs, when they poached Frank Arnesen.

Anyway, forgetting about the money side of things (because I’ve no doubt the amount will have at least doubled again by tonight), reports suggest Chelsea have sent an official complaint to the FA, alleging West Ham have breached Rule U10, which prohibits clubs from making approaches to employees of their rivals without first obtaining consent (shame that, I hear Millwall are looking for a new groundsman).

You see, an interview given by West Ham transfer consultant, Kia Joorabchian (yes, the dodgy bloke in the middle of the Tevez and Mascherano transfer shambles), gave the game away a little when he said “Gianfranco has a very close relationship with one particular person, Steve Clarke. They are very close and they feel his experience in the Premier League, working under very big coaches at Chelsea, has given him a lot of experience.” However, not only will West Ham argue that Joorabchian doesn’t speak for the club but they’ll also say that it was Zola who made the initial contact with Clarke – before West Ham even officially offered him the job.

As for Clarke, well he’s not a happy chap because after spending 20 years as a loyal servant at Chelsea, he can’t believe they’re playing hardball with him now.

Clarke joined Chelsea in 1987, and as a player, helped us win the FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup. He retired from playing in 1998 and went on to assist former Chelsea manager Ruud Gullit at Newcastle, staying as caretaker manager before working for Sir Bobby Robson following Gullit’s departure. Clarke then came back to Chelsea where he’s been assistant to Mourinho, Grant, and now Scolari, who has admitted that losing Clarke would be a huge blow for everyone at the club.

Scolari says “On Thursday I invited Steve to my house and we discussed this situation with West Ham, Chelsea and the life of Steve – his project, Steve is very important for me and Chelsea. He is a man that is a point between me and the players and me and the staff. He knows very well Chelsea, the England players and clubs. All people have projects in life. Steve wants to fly it alone in the future. For me, I understand because I am a professional for football.”

The Chelsea boss had apparently already had a chat with Clarke on Wednesday, telling him he was prepared to give him more responsibility, and says “I don’t know what happened in the night but when I came here in the morning I heard he had resigned. Now I have been told he is going I am sad but I understand Steve. I don’t agree with his decision but I am happy for him because I like Stevie. I like him as a person and as a coach and I wish him all the best.”

So, by the sounds of it, Scolari, like the rest of us, assumes it’s just a matter of time before Steve Clarke joins Zola at West Ham. However, on the very same day, a Chelsea statement read “We have not accepted his resignation. Talks are continuing.” So, as is often the case at Chelsea, it would appear that the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing.

Whoever said the art of communication is dead?

Filed under: Rants