Chelsea's Joe Cole admits club has been torn apart by conflict and turmoil

Joe Cole has admitted that Chelsea have been torn apart by two years of conflict and turmoil.

The England midfielder claims a crisis engulfed the club the moment owner Roman Abramovich and former boss Jose Mourinho fell out and went to war.

And it continued under the hapless management of Avram Grant who failed to deliver a single piece of silverware - the club's first blank season in four years.

But Cole is now convinced the dark days are a thing of the past with the arrival of Luiz Felipe Scolari, who moved swiftly to bring calm and tranquillity to the feuding club.

England midfielder Cole said: "The biggest thing I have noticed is how relaxed everyone is in the camp.

"The new manager has brought a stability to the club that hasn't been there for two and a bit seasons.

"We definitely feel like everyone in the club is pulling in the right direction again.

"Finally all that uncertainty is gone."

And Cole is convinced that the outbreak of peace at the club will strengthen Chelsea's resolve as they look to re-establish themselves as England's top club.

He explained: "Look how closely we pushed Manchester United last year in both competitions with everything that was going on at the club.

"Now that's all been swept under the table, we will certainly be a lot stronger."

They will also draw on the disappointment of losing out at the death to Manchester United in the Premier League and Champions League last season.

"It's the worst end to the season of my career. I can't think of a lower thing in football.

"I've suffered relegation and losing to your closest rivals on penalties when you had it in your hands is certainly on a par." Missing out on Euro 2008 with England as well has certainly given Cole unwanted time to brood.

He said: "I sure know the highs and the lows of football. It's definitely been a bad summer for me, that's for sure."

Yet the period of mourning has now passed for Cole and his team-mates, who know what it will take to completely erase the bitter memories of last season.

He added: "It's simple. We will do that by winning trophies this year.

"We need to win our first game and keep going and going.

"We've had terrible starts to the league over the last two years and it's cost us.

"This year we need to start well. The only thing is winning. For me, that's it. I'm not interested in anything else.

"I just want to win trophies. Until we do that we'll all still be a little bit hurt by it, so we want to put it right."

Cole admits that last year was trying and he virtually burnt himself out towards the end of the campaign.

He admitted: "We suffered so many injuries. I played most of the games, which was hard. And people don't realise it's difficult to play 50 games when you are on the wing.

"You have to be sharp every game, you get through a lot of running. I certainly felt it by the last 10 games of the season.

"A lot of people don't realise I do more running than anyone else on the pitch. I do like to work hard for the team. I felt I had a lot of football in me last year.

"But I'll be better for it this seasons. I'll be more adjusted."