Grant hits back at Sutcliffe slur

He added that Terry deserved "every penny" of his wages and was angry that Sutcliffe had picked on football players instead of other sportsmen and women or even singers like Madonna.

"I have my opinion about this. John is the captain and you need to learn how he led the team with full commitment in a very difficult time," said Grant.

Grant, who replaced Jose Mourinho as manager in September, has been full of praise for Terry and Sutcliffe's attack on player's wages clearly upset the Chelsea coach.

"This is leadership, this is captaincy. He deserves every penny. His leadership, I can guarantee you, is one of top in the history of this position," Grant said.

"Everybody likes to speak about the money of the footballers. Why does nobody speak about singers who get more money in one year than any player?

"Why don't they speak about talented tennis players like Maria Sharapova for example, who, I think, at 20 years old, has more money than any other player.

"Even if you think life is very easy for footballers, they have a short time to be a professional and if they succeed they deserve the money.

"I am not a politician but I need the government to care about not how much John Terry earns because they don't pay even one penny," he added.

"They need to take care of the people who don't have money and to help them as we try to help them. This is more important for the Government."