José Mourinho believes Roman Abramovich’s outlook has changed so radically over the past few years that he would not be sacked even if the club finish mid-table and outside the Champions League places this season.
Chelsea go into Saturday’s confrontation with Aston Villa having lost four of their eight Premier League fixtures, with the Portuguese benefiting from public backing from the hierarchy after the last of those defeats, against Southampton a fortnight ago. The club sacked six managers in as many years between 2007 and Mourinho’s return, including Roberto Di Matteo five months after claiming London’s first European Cup, with the trigger for that dismissal – like those of Luiz Felipe Scolari and André Villas-Boas before him – the fear the side might miss out on Champions League qualification.
Yet Mourinho had been convinced that short-term attitude no longer persisted in his initial talks with Abramovich and the director Marina Granovskaia over a potential return to Stamford Bridge two years ago. Asked if he thought he would be retained by Chelsea even if he finished in mid-table, the manager said “Yes” before claiming times had changed. Asked to explain why, he said: “It’s different for many reasons. I don’t think it’s different just now, but since the moment I came back in 2013. When I had my first conversation with the owner and board in 2013.”
Mourinho had met Abramovich immediately after concluding his media duties in the wake of the game against Southampton and before a board meeting that night, and had been reassured there was no immediate threat to his position. The club further demonstrated their commitment to him by issuing a 57-word statement proclaiming their support 48 hours later, with senior players having since offered public backing.
“I met the owner before dinner so, when I left, I knew [there was no threat of the sack],” Mourinho said. “But, even before that, I knew what brought me here. I know the conversation we had two years ago. I know what made me sign a new contract, and the reasons the owner and board decided to give me a new contract over the summer. They didn’t have to. I still had two years to run on the previous deal, so they didn’t have to give me a new contract. So what I know is what I know from them.
“Obviously, after a bad result – and that was not the first bad result of the season – I was far from happy. Far from it. But I never felt [concerned] about my future. For me the important thing is the owner and the board’s message to myself and, before the statement came out, I’d had the feedback from the owner and the board. So the statement was not something new for me. That support I’d got before. Why did the statement come out? Maybe to stop the rumour that I could be on my way. The support to myself was not made by the statement, but by a normal conversation that we’ve had many times. This time it was to support and to make me completely aware of the club’s intentions.”
Mourinho is convinced Chelsea will revive and finish in the top four – no club have achieved that from a position of eight points after eight games – but the importance of victory over Villa is all too clear. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is expected to start in midfield, with either Kurt Zouma or Ramires at full-back in the absence of the injured Branislav Ivanovic and Diego Costa returning from domestic suspension up front.
The Spain striker, omitted from his national side’s squad for their final two Euro 2016 qualifiers, admitted last week he had returned for pre-season “slightly overweight” with those fitness issues having nullified his own impact to date. “He’s an honest guy, and a guy that says that is not, for sure, the leader of any ‘mutiny’,” Mourinho said. “He’s the kind of guy who assumes his own responsibility.
“His weight was a consequence of a bad approach, but also of a difficult last third of the season: suspension; injury; re-injury; not playing; disappointment; not participating in the best period of the season, when you become champions; go on holiday; go to Brazil. The food is much better than here. For a Brazilian, the food in Brazil is divine. He stayed there at home and came back in bad condition. He could have used many excuses for our bad moment, but he chose himself and his condition as one of the factors. So respect.”
The Chelsea manager confirmed it was his decision to appeal against the punishment meted out by the Football Association for his post-match comments at the Southampton fixture. Mourinho had suggested referees were “afraid” to award his side decisions and, despite anticipating sanction, was taken aback by the £50,000 fine and suspended one-match stadium ban announced on Wednesday. “I want to appeal because I disagree totally,, and not just partially, but totally with the decision,” he said. “It’s obviously my decision, but I don’t want to say anything else. Other than I disagree totally.”