Andre Villas-Boas hits back at John Terry's plane story: 'I see it different'

Andre Villas-Boas has set the record straight on the notorious Chelsea plane story which John Terry revealed.

Terry has told a tale that Villas-Boas allowed Chelsea youth players into the best seats on a plane while leaving the established stars in the cheaper spots.

Villas-Boas endured an ill-fate eight-month spell in charge of Chelsea in 2011-12 and Terry's plane story is often referenced as an example of his inability to inspire his key players.

Terry told talkSPORT two years ago: "When AVB came in, we went to Hong Kong when he was first manager. We got on the plane and I'm sitting in economy on a 13-hour flight.

"We've got Josh McEachran, Nathaniel Chalobah, a couple of other young players, all in first class.

"And this was part of AVB going: 'No player is bigger than me, everyone's the same.'

"It turns out [Frank Lampard] is flying out first class and I'm flying back first class. So if you fly out at home in first, you come back in economy.

"But basically it wasn't good enough. I'm going: 'No no, we're not going anywhere until these young players go back in economy, and the first team players that have built this club to where we are today go back in first.'"

Terry insisted that he would not have travelled, alongside Lampard and Didier Drogba, unless they were given the top seats at the expense of the younger players.

The Chelsea legend also insisted that Villas-Boas failed to make a good first impression as a result of this incident.

Villas-Boas has now told his side of the story to John Obi Mikel's podcast: "We are speaking about first class or business class, we are not speaking about economy.

"This is precisely me as a principled human being setting out the rules. The rules were: we only had a few free spaces in first class which couldn't fit all of the first-team players, the established players.

"So you have to make a selection between, let's say, Petr Cech, Didier, John Terry, Lampard...

"Then leave out the John Obi, Florent Malouda, Salomon Kalou, for example.

"The principle was precisely that. Instead of creating a problem, let's put [in first-class] the academy boys and send the rest of the guys to business class. That was the reasoning.

"I don't remember John coming to me saying there might have been a little bit of an issue. I don't remember them changing.

"That was the principle, instead of putting only a few of what were considered the top guns.

"We had enough for the captains of the team in first class which was always a good excuse. The captains could come to first class, the others wouldn't come. We tested all of the different criteria: appearances, years for the club.

"The principle was that the big guns go together, the boys come to first class.

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"I see it completely different. John sees it the other way around.

"It had zero influence in preseason because we were excellent.

"It probably had something to do with my principled way, my stubborness, or not seeing the big picture -- the big prima donnas who wanted to go in first class."

Villas-Boas added that he understood Terry's view but said: "I am not sure if I would do it differently, right now. It's a practical, efficient thing."