Chelsea’s Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich is set to miss tonight’s Champions League group stage match against Porto at Stamford Bridge leaving many critics of manager Jose Mourinho to say that this is a sign that the Russian oligarch still retains faith in the Portuguese manager despite Chelsea’s worst ever start to the season.
Back in 2007 however it was a 1-1 draw with minnows Rosenburg in the Champions League that sealed Mourinho’s fate with the Blues boss given his marching orders just two days later, but with Blues fans still firmly behind the Special One it appears as though Mourinho still has time left to turn things around at Stamford Bridge.
“I think that I did lots of good things in this club for the owner to know the quality I have,” Mourinho said.
“And if the owner shows me that belief twice – once when he brought me back to the club, the second time when he gave me a new contract for four years – I don’t think the he is a person to change with the wind.
“I know the wind of the results is an important wind. I know this wind is strong because the results in the Premier League are really bad.
“But I think the owner knows who I am and what I give to the club, and the owner believes that I am the right person to do the job.
“And now I don’t speak about the owner, but just about the reality of the situation.”
While the current situation certainly looks bad Mourinho is not prepared to take all the blame for the clubs poor results.
“You can read these bad results and focus everything on the manager,” he said. “You can look at the results and look to players with performances below acceptable (levels).
“You can look to this and look to the unlucky decisions we’re having in every competition, not just the Premier League.
“You can look in many directions and decide this is not a one-man responsibility. But that is just my point of view.”
When asked how he could be so bullish on his future prospects with the club the 52-year-old added:
“I am an optimistic guy”.
“I know that, in this moment, it looks to win the Europa League might be an easier way to be in the Champions League next season, than to finish in the top four.
“But there is another possibility, which is to win the Champions League.”
