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Villas-Boas needs support from owner, not players

Comment: 0 February 17th, 2012 by: admin

Although Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas is facing a potential revolt among players who are against him, he believes that his job is secure.

Owner Roman Abramovich has also been guarding the situation at the Cobham training ground since last week, observing practices, but Villas-Boas reveals that he is not feeling the pressure.

In a bust-up following their 0-2 loss against Everton, Villas-Boas and his players had a disagreement that occurred in front of the Blues owner. This made the rift between players and manager even more apparent. Former manager Jose Mourinho’s name has also been thrown in the discussion as reports claimed that he still keeps in touch with some of the senior players from Chelsea through text messages.

“The players don’t have to back my project, it’s the owner who backs my project,” said the Portuguese.

“I think the owner has full trust in me and will continue to progress with the ideas that we have.”

The Blues are currently struggling to stay in form after winning only once in five League matches, drawing three contests while losing to Everton at Goodison Park. They sit in fifth in the table – 10 points behind third place Tottenham Hotspur.

Chelsea’s coming fixture will pit them against Birmingham at Stamford Bridge on Saturday for a fifth-round match-up for the FA Cup.

The 34-year-old manager expects nothing more than a win. Losing that tie and failing to progress in the Champions League against Napoli could finally cost him his job.

“In the end, that is the objective of getting us the best position possible in the league, plus the two trophies, which we are fighting for,” AVB claimed.

“It will be extremely good for us if we win against Birmingham to put ourselves in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.”

With the situation of the Premier League this season, the manager admits that a fourth-place finish is the best that they can hope for.

While reports say that the Russian owner will not settle for fourth place, AVB remains calm that his job is not threatened.

“We need strong progression in the league and to show our strength, so we efficate a little bit more our contention for fourth place.”

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