Joe Cole revealed why the players didn't want to get on Jose Mourinho's bad side at Chelsea, as the manager would slam them if they put a foot wrong.

The Portuguese manager is known to be a combustible character who has often thrown his players under the bus before the media in the past.

However, not many knew that Mourinho was even more hostile inside the dressing room and would take his players to the cleaners for minor errors, even if they had an otherwise brilliant outing.

While speaking on The Obi One Podcast, Cole revealed, "I loved Jose, but people always think we had a bad relationship. I played a league game and we won 3-0 at home. I set two goals up and thought I played well, but it probably took a few little flicks around. I've gone through one-on-one with the keeper late on and should've slotted it in but instead, I gave it to Crespo, but he not run anywhere near it and the defenders got it.

"I thought nothing of it, but we were doing the warm-down the next day and Mourinho came over and he said, 'See you do that s* again, boy, you'll never f*ing play for me again' and I was like, what? Another time I scored the winner against Liverpool and they were our big rivals. I thought I was the bee's knees and we'd gone out and had a great night. The next morning, my phone's blowing up and he's battered me in the press. It was just a way of keeping us down but I think he knew every time he did that to me, I'd respond."Ricardo Carvalho was considered one of the favourites of Mourinho but he was also slandered after he struggled during a friendly.

"It was a belter when he dug out Riccy Carvalho. Riccy's his boy; he took him everywhere and loved him, but I don't know why (he went for him)," he said.

"I was right in front of him and he's going, 'You're playing like a fucking elephant,' and he's done the trunk sign and I'm there laughing." John Obi Mikel jumped in and added, "When he's angry, he picks one person that he will really go after and that day Jose killed me. 'You play like a fing elephant; you can't run', he destroyed me. I went back and after 10 minutes, he took me off."Getting back to the Carvalho incident, Cole further stated: "There was sometimes no rhyme or reason for it (his dressing downs).

"He never played badly for more than two games and hardly ever made a mistake. He's gone to Riccy. 'You're fing s. I'm not going to play you. I'm going to play JT (John Terry) and then (William) Gallas. Then I'm going to play Robert Huth, and then I'm going to play the youth kid Steve Watt. If I don't play him, I'm going to play the kitman; I'm not going to play you'. And I get the giggles when there's things like that."

Mourinho led Chelsea to consecutive Premier League titles in his first stint from 2004 to 2007. Throughout this timeframe, Cole featured in 123 matches under Mourinho's tutelage, playing a pivotal role with 21 goals and 13 assists.

Currently unattached to a managerial position, Mourinho left AS Roma following a string of unsatisfactory results. Despite this setback, there are rumours linking him to a coaching role with Saudi Arabia's Al-Shabab, suggesting a potential swift comeback to the coaching arena.