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Joe Cole was stunned by Shaun Wright-Phillips' response after Jose Mourinho subsituted both players just 26 minutes into a game.

The duo were crucial to Chelsea's attacking prowess throughout their dominant 2005/06 Premier League title triumph, yet despite the side's domestic supremacy, friction occasionally emerged. Such an incident occurred in March 2006, when Chelsea travelled the short distance to take on Fulham at Craven Cottage.

The away side began lethargically and paid the price, conceding when Luis Boa Morte broke the deadlock on 17 minutes. True to form, Mourinho acted with characteristic decisiveness and severity.

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He substituted both Cole and Wright-Phillips prior to the half-hour mark, introducing Didier Drogba and Damien Duff as replacements. Premature substitutions remain uncommon in the sport, not merely for strategic reasons but also to prevent humiliating those who are withdrawn so early.

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For Cole, though, the sensation extended well beyond mere embarrassment. The ex-West Ham star confessed he entirely lost his composure upon returning to the changing room.

"You could see, my face was going (Cole growls)," he recalled whilst appearing on the Could It Be Magic? podcast alongside namesake Ashley and Wright-Phillips in March 2025. "I've smashed the changing room up, I've kicked the massage table, I'm kicking the walls. Anything that was there, I was throwing it like a big spoilt child."

Yet whilst Cole was fuming, Wright-Phillips maintained composure - a stark difference that left his teammate baffled. "Wrighty's just chilled, taking his socks off," Cole added.

"I'm looking at him thinking, 'How are you so calm?' And Wrighty's just like (shrugs)."

Elaborating on his approach, Wright-Phillips said: "It's because I just learned him (Mourinho). That's what I saw before I came and what I witnessed while I was there. We don't even have to be playing badly [to be subbed off]. If he sees something else in that game that he can win the game by, he's going to do it. It doesn't matter what time in the game it was."

Still confused, Cole questioned him further as he said: "But how did you stay so calm? How?" Wright-Phillips replied: "Didn't you see me when I came off?

"I was laughing in disbelief. Because we didn't get the ball [enough] to play badly. We just weren't getting the ball out wide. But he just said, 'Yeah, yeah, cool, done.'"

Even taking into account the bold changes, Mourinho's gamble failed to make a difference, despite Chelsea having a goal controversially ruled out. Fulham clung on for a 1-0 triumph, becoming only the third team to defeat the Blues in the league that campaign.

That defeat, however, proved inconsequential in the bigger picture. Chelsea would not taste defeat again before securing their second successive Premier League crown six weeks later, capped by a memorable 3-0 win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.

Cole played a starring role that afternoon, netting one of the most iconic strikes of his career - collecting the ball on the edge of the area with his back to goal, gliding past three defenders and unleashing an unstoppable effort past a helpless Edwin van der Sar.

Wright-Phillips, however, was omitted from the squad that faced United - a frustrating exclusion that epitomised his disappointing debut campaign in west London. The duo would combine for another two seasons before Wright-Phillips departed to rejoin Manchester City in 2008.

Chelsea are nowhere near a title-challenging campaign this season, with Liam Rosenior's side 13 points adrift of leaders Arsenal heading into the weekend. They face West Ham, another of Cole's former clubs, at Stamford Bridge in Saturday's 5:30pm kick-off.