Oct 18

André Villas-Boas: failing to win titles at Chelsea would be unforgivable

• Chelsea manager ‘wouldn’t forgive myself’ for failure
• Ramires injured for Champions League tie against Genk

André Villas-Boas has said he would “never forgive” himself if he did not win major trophies while at Chelsea.

The Portuguese’s team face Genk at Stamford Bridge tomorrow in the third Champions League group game, having so far beaten Bayer Leverkusen and drawn at Valencia, and Villas-Boas was asked if he would prefer to win trophies or create entertaining teams.

He said: “Yes [develop a good team]. But the trophy cabinet is something that is more visible. What is expected is to win trophies. I wouldn’t forgive myself if missed the opportunity to win major trophies at this club.”

Villas-Boas’s grand plan does not involve remaining in management for all his working life, and he outlined his ambitions before retirement. “I think I just want to have career I can be proud of, whenever it finishes. The time will come when I feel proud of what I have achieved and will leave my position. I don’t want to be in a position long time but want something to be proud of and will try to get,” he said.

Villas-Boas, who turned 34 on Monday, did admit that he could yet be bitten by the management bug and remain in football long-term. “I don’t know. It can happen, it has in past. It is unclear for me yet. This is beginning of my career and I have targets for my future, new things and want to do that,” he said. He would not be drawn on what he would do otherwise.

Chelsea have lost only once this season – at Manchester United in the league – and Villas-Boas now believes the side is playing with greater fluency. “It helps that the players are more familiar. There is training but then match routines – in games, players inter-relate and know each other better, and things work out better.

“Scoring has not been a problem, [we have been] able to create opportunities. The most important thing was to progress after the first three games. We were not fluent in what we were trying to achieve. Confidence of players helped in getting results from Sunderland on [where they won 2-1]. From then on we have been more fluent.”

Chelsea have scored 23 goals so far in all competitions, with 13 of those collected in their last four outings. But Villas-Boas is unsure if his team is now constantly performing precisely how he would like. “It is difficult – you can’t translate a thing like that,” he said. “Most important is to look at the challenges for us. We can’t think after every win that we are playing as want just because we won. You always have to have space for progression. We have consistency, but progression is natural with these players, and the team will get better but for that to happen we have to keep winning.”

Villas-Boas revealed that Ramires is not available due to a knee injury and is “fifty-fifty” to recover for Sunday’s Premier League game at Queens Park Rangers. For the game with Leverkusen, Villas-Boas rested John Terry and Frank Lampard started on the bench. While he would not confirm precise team details for tomorrow he did state that Sunday’s match will be taken into consideration. Fernando Torres could well start against Genk, who are the Belgian champions, as he has missed the last two league games due to a domestic suspension.

Regarding the Spanish striker Villas-Boas said: “The decision has been made but I won’t share it with you now. He has been out for a long period and had some action for Spain to keep him in form for this period. Then we just have to make best decision possible. He has been good in training.

“The most important thing is that we are aware of talent have at our disposal. Any XI will be strong and the 18 strong. This puts us in position of comfort to have good rest and play periods and relationships. There are situations that might happen with regard to the QPR game.”

So far, Chelsea have kept only three clean sheets with the team having developed a tendency to concede late goals, as they did against Everton in the 3-1 win on Saturday. Petr Cech says the squad is conscious of this but they are currently calm about it. “Its better if we have a run of clean sheets which we haven’t had. But we’ve played well and keep winning three points which is the main target. We have been punished but are aware of it and improving. It will stop,” the goalkeeper said.

Kevin de Bruyne, a player who interests Chelsea, should start for Genk. Regarding the prospect of the 20-year-old midfielder joining Chelsea in the future Villas-Boas added: “At the moment we have discovered him and scouted him. That doesn’t mean he will join.”

ChelseaAndré Villas-BoasJamie Jacksonguardian.co.uk

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Oct 13

André Villas-Boas backs Chelsea’s bid to repurchase stadium freehold

• Villas-Boas: ‘The club is doing the right thing’
• John Terry and Bruce Buck to meet CPO shareholders

André Villas-Boas has backed Chelsea’s proposals to repurchase the freehold for the land on which Stamford Bridge is built as the club step up their attempts to persuade shareholders in Chelsea Pitch Owners to accept their offer.

The Chelsea captain, John Terry, who is also president of CPO – a company founded in 1993 to safeguard the club’s future at their home of 106 years and which owns the pitch, turnstiles and ground upon which the arena’s four stands are built – and the club’s chairman, Bruce Buck, are to meet major shareholders on Monday to try to convince them to accept the bid to repurchase the freehold.

The offer will go to the vote at an extraordinary general meeting on 27 October with the club requiring the support of the equivalent of 75% of the shares of those attending or voting by proxy for the proposal to be carried.

That invitation – one has been issued to a shareholder who owns 18 shares – has dismayed the recently founded Say No CPO campaign, a coalition of supporters’ groups, fanzines and fans’ independent websites who retain reservations for the future should the safety net provided by CPO’s ownership of the freehold be relinquished.

A spokesperson for the campaign said: “Say No CPO are saddened, but not shocked, to learn that Chelsea FC have had to resort to trying to influence the votes of the largest shareholders by offering private meetings with club players.”

The group will hand out 10,000 leaflets around Stamford Bridge ahead of Saturday’s Premier League game against Everton. While SNCPO are not opposed per se to the idea of Chelsea eventually leaving Stamford Bridge for a new home – the club insist no talks are under way with developers or potential site owners over a move – they are seeking a more prolonged dialogue with the club over the issue with a delegation having met with Buck on Thursday to continue those discussions.

The chief executive, Ron Gourlay, is also due to speak with representatives from the Chelsea Supporters’ Association on the issue on Monday, upon his return from a business trip in east Asia.

Villas-Boas was asked about the issue at the Cobham training ground and welcomed the club’s attempts to manoeuvre itself into a position where a move to a new ground, which would require the sale of the club’s current home, could be smoothed.

“The most important thing for us is to position ourselves for the future,” he said. “The club has made a good decision on that front. It’s really difficult for me, someone who is a professional employed by the club and not a supporter. What we are living now is an initial fans’ reaction. But the club is doing the right thing in positioning itself for the future. We don’t know if we are moving or not but we are positioning ourselves to the possibility of moving.”

Villas-Boas grew up as a Porto supporter and did concede there had been “a feeling of sadness” at his childhood club’s decision to leave the Estádio das Antas, their home since 1952, for the Estádio do Dragão in 2003, by which point he was on the coaching staff. “We were invaded by a feeling of sadness by leaving a site that meant so much to so many,” he said.

“I remember that no one liked the new name, ‘Dragão’, when it was announced. Nobody liked the name, nobody liked the site, nobody liked the stadium or the idea of moving. The historic presence of the old stadium on that site was something important for the fans. But go back to Porto now and no one remembers the old stadium and the Dragão has helped Porto expand itself.

“When you move house, if you are going to a better house, then you want it badly from the beginning. But if you’re moving into a house that is more or less the same, you feel a sense of attachment to where you were living before because it meant so much to you. You need to get to know new people, go to different restaurants and create a better environment.

“At Porto, we were uncertain: where are we going? Why are we changing stadium? The emotional links were being lost but already we are all emotionally attached to the new stadium. That move took us into the future, brought us more revenues and allowed us to play in a magnificent stadium.”

André Villas-BoasChelseaDominic Fifieldguardian.co.uk

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Nov 11

Ray Wilkins leaves Chelsea with immediate effect

• Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant departs Stamford Bridge
• ‘We all wish him well for the future,’ says Gourlay

Ray Wilkins has left Chelsea with immediate effect, after the club chose not to renew his contract as Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant.

“Without him, we couldn’t have won a thing,” wrote the Italian of his right-hand man in his recent autobiography, but that has not been enough to keep Wilkins at Stamford Bridge.

“On behalf of everyone at the club I would like to thank Ray for everything he has done for Chelsea Football Club,” said the Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay in a brief statement on the club wesbite. “We all wish him well for the future.”

Reports suggest Wilkins may have been told of the decision at half-time during a reserve team game at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground.

Wilkins, a former apprentice at Chelsea who made his debut for the club 37 years ago last month and captained the side aged just 18, rejoined the club in 2007 as assistant to Felipe Scolari, having previously worked at the club under Gianluca Vialli.

Wilkins, who has been Ancelotti’s assistant since the Italian’s arrival at the club in the summer of 2009, had been on the touchline during Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Fulham last night ahead of today’s surprise announcement.

The precise reasons behind the move are as yet unclear, as is the identity of any likely replacement. Chelsea currently have two other assistant first-team coaches – Bruno Demichelis and Paul Clement – although Demichelis’s role is in co-ordinating the scientific and medical work at the club, while Wilkins’s brief focused solely on technical and football matters.

Ancelotti had been effusive in his praise of Wilkins in his autobiography. “Ray is one of those select few, always present, noble in spirit, a real blue-blood, Chelsea flows in his veins,” he wrote. “His heart beats in two languages, and that helped me. Without him, we couldn’t have won a thing, and in particular we would not have started the year at supersonic speed.”

ChelseaCarlo AncelottiJohn Ashdownguardian.co.uk

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