Mourinho: '
Back me or
I'm off'
Jose Mourinho and the Chelsea board yesterday gave a first public show of unity, indicating that the rift of recent days is close to being healed, but the manager warned that he would not tolerate major interference in his role.
Jose Mourinho raised the stakes in his power struggle with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich last night by saying that he will only stay if he gets the full backing of the club.
Amid growing fears that the Portuguese coach will quit at the end of the season,The Premiership champions' chief executive, Peter Kenyon, began by openly pledging the owner Roman Abramovich's backing for Mourinho's management, a statement that seemed to hearten the Portuguese. That support may not be translated into funds for the last two weeks of the transfer window but Mourinho seemed unconcerned about that. He made it clear, however, that the peace would not hold if there were interference in his handling of football matters at Stamford Bridge
Mourinho is believed to have clashed with the club's plans to bring in the former Israel coach Avram Grant, now technical director of Portsmouth, to work as a personal trainer to the misfiring striker Shevchenko.
But Mourinho said: "The coaching staff is my responsibility. I choose my assistants. If I am not happy with my assistants, I tell the club to sack them or to change them. But my coaching staff is my responsibility. That's a fact. It's not a quote, it's a fact."
Mourinho wants to sign a central defender to help cover the absence of captain John Terry, who is facing an indefinite spell on the sidelines with a back injury.
He also wants a striker to add some firepower to his team following the disappointing form of Ukrainian Shevchenko following his £30 million arrival from AC Milan in the summer.But so far Abramovich and Peter Kenyon, the chief executive, have failed to back Mourinho's demands, raising fears that the Portuguese will quit at the end of the season.
Real Madrid and several Italian clubs are thought to be interested in enlisting Mourinho but, with two young children - Matilde and Jose junior - he would prefer to remain at Chelsea rather than to seek a new position abroad. But that does not mean he will compromise himself professionally.
Kenyon's comments therefore came as an encouragement. "Categorically the owner and the board support Jose as Chelsea manager," said the chief executive. "That is the position of the owner and the board and that is not going to change. I am confident [Jose] will stay."
Kenyon insisted there were no sinister motives for failing to invest in the transfer market this month, notably the failure to reach agreement with Bolton over the two clubs' valuations of the Israel centre-back Tal Ben Haim. Kenyon considered the £3m demanded by the Lancashire club excessive for a player with six months left to run on his contract, after which he will be available for nothing.
"We will only try and get the players we are interested in," said Kenyon. "It is not about just filling space. If that player is available, will that player feature next season, which is important, not just bringing someone in for 2½ months. It is notoriously difficult finding that type of player who will make that impact on Chelsea."
Mourinho endorses that sentiment, believing that some money is better spent on charitable causes. He and Kenyon, along with Chelsea's first-team squad, were attending a function at the Houses of Parliament to promote the launch of the club's six-year partnership with the humanitarian organisation Right to Play.
The partnership is one element of Chelsea's £4.34m investment in community and social initiatives, 2.8% of the club's annual turnover. "This £4m is better than a player because players sometimes you buy and
the contribution from the player is not so big and so good for the club," said Mourinho.
"With £4m and more, for sure it is going in a very, very good direction. It will be good for a lot of people. If the money goes in this direction it is very good."
Mourinho to leave Chelsea???
. But i guess it won't.
