• Premier League

Di Matteo: Chelsea players not out of control

ESPN staff
October 5, 2012

Roberto Di Matteo has denied that his Chelsea players are out of control after Ashley Cole's outburst on Twitter.

The defender took to the social networking site to respond to the report detailing why John Terry was found guilty of 'using abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour' towards Anton Ferdinand last October.

The report questioned Cole's reliability as a witness, with the panel saying it had "considerable doubts" over the evidence given by the defender, who responded by calling the FA a "bunch of t***s".

But Di Matteo, who learned of Cole's exploits during his pre-match press conference on Friday, insisted the squad were not ill-disciplined and said he would judge his players by their antics on the pitch.

"I judge the players on what I see when they train and play, and I try and select a team that will hopefully be able to win against Norwich. That is my job," Di Matteo said.

"I always said about the social networks that it is a good vehicle if used appropriately. Players need to realise that tweets can be viewed by anybody and they have to be responsible.

"I do not think the players, apart from this, are out of control. I need to see the reasoning behind it."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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