• Chelsea manager retains confidence of Roman Abramovich
• Villas-Boas: Chelsea must ‘find winning ways straight away’
André Villas-Boas retains the support of the Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, and the club’s board despite what the manager concedes has been “the worst start for quite some time” to a season but the Portuguese admits that the Champions League game at Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday has become “massive”.
The defeat by Liverpool on Sunday was Chelsea’s third in four league games, leaving them 12 points from Manchester City and amid a clutch of clubs challenging for a place in the top four. Villas-Boas had declared after the 2-1 reverse his belief that Abramovich would not be minded to dismiss him, having paid Porto £13.3m to secure his release last summer and with the prospect of compensating him for the remainder of his contract if he were to wield the axe again.
There remains solid support behind the 34-year-old within the club’s hierarchy, with an acknowledgement that his tenure is still very much in its infancy. Villas-Boas was appointed with the future in mind, charged with overseeing the rejuvenation of this squad. Although there is concern at the current plight – anxiety that would be heightened should Chelsea lose in Germany on Wednesday, a result that would most likely see them competing for second place in their Champions League group – faith is retained that the management can recover the side’s form.
The players trained normally at Cobham on Monday, with those involved in Sunday’s defeat conducting a warm-down session, though recent stuttering results have prompted some predictable grumblings of discontent within the dressing room. There have been suggestions that some senior players have been unsettled by the constant tinkering of the team’s rearguard, with the side showing uncharacteristic vulnerability at the back. A move for Bolton Wanderers’ England centre-back Gary Cahill is anticipated in the midwinter transfer window. The player would cost around £16m and would renew what has been a largely successful partnership with John Terry with the national side.
Yet for now Villas-Boas has continued to back his players publicly despite the team’s worst start to a league season in 11 years. “It looks bad for us at this moment because it has not been the brightest of starts – the worst for quite some time – but we have to have belief,” he said. “We have to believe in the work we are doing to get back to winning ways.
“The players have immense talent and I have faith in them, and you can’t forget we are still in all four competitions. But now we have to focus just on what we are doing. The Premier League has got more difficult but it’s not impossible [still to win it]. We have to trust the December fixtures and, above all, we have to find the belief again to fight for the title.”
Next month Chelsea must confront Newcastle United, the leaders City and Tottenham Hotspur, games Villas-Boas will see as opportunities to thrust his team back into the title race. “But the most important thing is finding winning ways straightaway,” he said. “If possible, against Leverkusen which is a massive game. Then we have three games in the Premier League where we must try to get nine points. The challenge is to have the belief and strength to fight for those nine points. But if we get nine points, it would put us in a different perspective.”
Villas-Boas’s position has not been helped by Guus Hiddink’s sudden availability following Turkey’s failure to qualify for Euro 2012. The Dutchman, who enjoyed a successful spell as interim manager at Stamford Bridge after the dismissal of Luiz Felipe Scolari in February 2009, winning the FA Cup, revealed on Monday that he is still in regular contact with Abramovich, for whom he briefly worked as a football adviser in an unofficial capacity. The 65-year-old was a candidate to replace Carlo Ancelotti in the summer before Chelsea turned to Villas-Boas following his successes with Porto.
Hiddink has yet to determine which “prestigious project” he would like to oversee next, though the timing of his comments about his relationship with Abramovich could be deemed unhelpful. “The relationship was and has been and will be very good,” he said. “When I go to London I am always welcome at Cobham and the stadium. We don’t speak every week but every now and then there is contact and I feel very welcome, always. I will take some time off and we will see what the future brings. But I feel I have enough energy to go on and, what the future brings, we will see.”
Yet there is no appetite at present to find a permanent position for Hiddink at Stamford Bridge – Michael Emenalo was promoted to the role of sporting director over the summer – and faith is apparently retained in the current set-up.
ChelseaAndré Villas-BoasDominic Fifieldguardian.co.uk
