Interview with The Sunday Times:
Few weep for Kenyon. "The former Umbro boy has become a little bit of a star since he moved to London," wrote United’s Gary Neville in his newspaper column, "and his confidence has increased since his early days at Old Trafford, when he would come into a meeting with me, Roy Keane and Ryan Giggs to talk about the players’ pool and sweat more than we do on a Saturday afternoon."
Reminded of Neville’s withering put-down, Kenyon laughs and wants to let it pass. Were United’s shop stewards, Neville and Keane, that formidable? "I think Keane’s formidable," he says and pauses before laughter takes over again.
Were the players’ pool meetings at United so fraught? "They were fairly unique. They were unusual in that these were highly paid employees and you end up arguing about 2s 6d. The key negotiations were player contracts and I was pleased to be involved in bringing in some good talent or keeping some extraordinary talent at the club. That’s my memory."
He left United in September 2003, one of the first in a long line of people lured by Abramovich’s money and his vision for Chelsea. Did he jump ship knowing the great Manchester United was already sinking in the water? Whatever, he was accused of putting Chelsea onto a United target, Arjen Robben, and his once excellent relationship with Ferguson was one of the first things to go.
"Alex is one of the ultimate winners and I’ve got the utmost respect for him. But with Alex, you are in or you are out. When I was in, we had a great relationship. Now I am the enemy and that’s fine. We still talk to each other, we’re still polite to each other but when it comes to Chelsea and United, I have no illusions. I am the enemy."
There is no point in trying to soothe an old friend. "No. That doesn’t work. Alex is one of the greats and having the experience of working with someone of that magnitude was fantastic at every level."
"Shaking up what was a cartel between United and Arsenal in the Premier League was something nobody was really ready for. There are an awful lot of people who will say, ‘It’s great for football because it’s not going to be Manchester United or Arsenal again this season’. But there are a lot of people associated with Manchester United and Arsenal who think it is the worst thing in the world."
Throughout the interview, Kenyon reiterates that everything Chelsea hope to achieve is dependent upon a successful football team. He can help to revamp the club’s academy, to build a state-of-the-art training centre at Cobham, to make sure that when a player such as Ballack becomes available that Mourinho has the option to sound him out, but the entire business doesn’t work if the football team doesn’t win most of its matches.
"We want to see Chelsea become less reliant in the early years and non-reliant in the later years on a single benefactor. To be successful on the field and to run a successful business, that is non-loss making, is an important part of our future. But it’s going to take time. We’ve said we’re going to get there by 2010. We still feel very confident and bullish about that. It’s a big target but we have a big vision and we’re not shying away from the responsibilities of a good corporate football club."