Chelsea insider claims Andre Villas-Boas sent vicious message to Didier Drogba and tried to 'ostracise' Frank Lampard

Jason Cundy has lifted the lid on Andre Villas-Boas' 'strange' time at Chelsea after witnessing it first-hand.

The Portuguese manager landed the Chelsea job in the summer of 2011 and was touted as the 'next Jose Mourinho' after joining from Porto, as well as being part of his coaching staff during the 'Special One's' first spell at Stamford Bridge.

However, Villas-Boas lasted less than a season and his human management skills were called into question in the following years.

John Terry stated that Villas-Boas lost the locker room back in pre-season, when the Blues' senior stars flew economy class to Hong Kong.

Those statements were backed by Jon-Obi Mikelwho said that Villas-Boas tried to impose himself in the wrong way, which led to a confrontation with the club's main stars.

One man who knows exactly what Villas-Boas was like at Stamford Bridge is former Chelsea player Jason Cundy, who says the young Portuguese boss “upset a lot of people” in west London.

Speaking on talkSPORT Drive, Cundy said: “I was still working for Chelsea TV at the time and I was at the training ground doing a few shows there – Odd Boy, AVB, Mate. Odd Man.

“I always had the feeling that he felt like he didn't trust anyone.

“I would see him and do things with him after the game after the games and then I would see him on the training ground and he would ignore you.”

Asked why he would do that, Cundy said, “I don’t know.

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“Anyway, as I found out later, he told Didier Drogba that his time at Chelsea was over and that he was finished.

“He said the same thing to Frank Lampard; he almost tried to exclude Frank Lampard and Didier.

“They won the Champions League that year. It was a very strange year.”

Andy Goldstein then asked why he was asked to get rid of them, to which Cundy replied: “I don’t know. The team has to move on, but he wasn’t the right man for the job at the time.

“Roberto Di Matteo came in after him and went in the complete opposite direction. He and Eddie Newton put their arms around the players and put them back in position for the free throw.

“AVB made some very, very strange decisions. It was Napoli away and they left Essien or Lampard on the bench and they fired him after losing 3-1.

“We came back and beat them with Di Matteo. We came back and won the FA Cup and Champions League that season.

“Di Matteo (credit to him) knew he had to count on these big dogs because he needed them.

“It’s all about massaging egos, but AVB did the opposite. There were some very strong characters in that dressing room at the time and he irritated a lot of people.”