Premier League - Abramovich holds summit talks

Mon, 13 Feb 11:09:00 2012

Chelsea have confirmed Roman Abramovich met with Andre Villas-Boas and his players after the squad were hauled in on their day off following the club's defeat at Everton.

Everton 2 Chelsea 0

The flight back from Saturday's 2-0 Premier League loss at Goodison Park saw manager Villas-Boas order his underperforming stars to turn up at the Blues' Cobham training headquarters on Sunday morning, where they were again greeted by Abramovich.

The club's billionaire owner, who is far from happy with recent results, spoke to both Villas-Boas and the players, having already spent almost every day last week inspecting the current regime at close quarters.

His presence, which has coincided with the Russian being available from a high-profile court case as well as a slump in Chelsea's results, has sparked speculation over Villas-Boas's future.

But the Blues boss and the club have continued to maintain the Portuguese's position is not under threat and that Abramovich's active interest is perfectly normal.

Indeed, almost two years ago, Chelsea went on to win the double when the Russian held a post-mortem into their Champions League defeat to Inter Milan.

There is little chance of a repeat this season, with the Blues now 17 points behind league leaders Manchester City in fifth spot, although they are well-placed in the FA Cup and still in the Champions League.

As well as progress in those competitions, a top-four league finish which would appear the minimum requirement for Villas-Boas, who has been cut more slack than any of his predecessors under Abramovich.

The patience of the Russian, who has seemingly acknowledged the need to revamp an ageing squad, will be tested like never before if Chelsea do not qualify for next season's Champions League.

Abramovich even sacked Luiz Felipe Scolari three years ago when he began to fear a top-four place would not be secured and the Blues are in a far worse position now than they were then.

PA Sport

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  1. No.38 Champoins. I never said anything about players­ being too old. Lampard in my mind should never have­ been on the bench and Terry is by far the best centre­ half in the EPL this season and yes Malouda is not good­ enough, he actually gets in Ashley Coles way at times­ recently. He has had 2 good half seasons in all the­ time he has been here. The defence has to play well for­ 90 minutes. I dont care who you play but if your 3-0 up­ after 50 odd minutes and draw 3-3 you have to look at­ the defence. Cahill is a very good player and will be­ good for the club. Bosingwa costs us too many goals and­ Luiz is a liablity but I think could play in front of­ the defence. Ramires, Terry, Lampard, Cole and Drogba­ out of any team is a huge loss and Essien is not 100%­ match fit. Torres has had his chance over the past­ month and didnt take it, maybe he should have gone to­ Bolton on loan but in fairness he has played fairly­ well recently but doesnt seem to be capable of finding­ space. I watched him carefully against Portsmouth and­ he looked as though he was lost. Why does he spend so­ much time on the wing. Baffles me.......

    From THE REAL SUPER BLUE, on Thu 16 Feb 7:51

  2. @baz1812, you said you were a red then a spurs fan­ there???

    From Champions Of Europe, on Thu 16 Feb 5:59

  3. the criticism of chelsea is quite laughable. lamprd­ getting dropped i hear folk moanin about even though he­ players nearly every game and these same people moan­ that some players are too old. cole still hasnt had a­ bad game. terry is always solid. drogba has been great­ when starting and how can malouda be doing so bad­ considering he never plays. someone moaned about cahill­ starting against utd even though the defence played­ great apart from the 3rd goal so how was that a bad­ decision?

    lets get rid of the manager and spend­ another fortune, get a part time manager to manage the­ same players and then need to find another long term 1­ that if isnt winning every game will get moaned about­ as well. yes im being sarcastic in this last­ part.

    simple what t do, get rid of torres and­ meireles, gie sturridge and drogba and lukaku the­ centre forward role, play cahill and give younger­ players a start every now n then. sorted

    From Champions Of Europe, on Thu 16 Feb 5:57

  4. couldnt agree with super blue more,as a red i think­ john terry is one ov the best in that position,lampard­ will always give you 101 percent,and he is class,as for­ mourinho if arry takes the england job,he might think­ twice about us,dont you think.

    From baz1812, on Wed 15 Feb 17:02

  5. Mourinho will never be Chelsea manager again so we have­ to get on with. There are 2 jobs in football Mourinho­ wants and although it pains me to say it, I think he is­ biding his time for the United job when SAF does decide­ its time to quit. After that he will manage the­ Portugese national team. Im not sure if Roman will give­ AVB many more chances. If we dont qualify for 1/4 final­ of CL that could be that. I honestly think AVB hasnt­ got a clue. How can you keep dropping Lampard when he­ scores so many important goals including this season.­ In the last 2 games, (United and Everton) the defence­ looked completely bewildered. Terry has been missed so­ much. I mean giving Cahill his debut against United was­ stupid, he should have been tried as sub in a game or 2­ prior to that. Sturridge seems to blow hot and cold and­ Malouda should have been gone ages ago. No disrespect­ to any team struggling at the bottom but I bet he­ wouldnt get into any of them. Michel and Kalou are­ still young but not good enough either and should be­ moved on while they are still worth a few bob. As much­ as I like Cech he has never been the same since the­ injury. We need some major transfers out in the summer­ before we get anymore in and we need some good young­ English players ie Kyle Walker and Gosling + a striker­ who knows where the goal is.......

    From THE REAL SUPER BLUE, on Wed 15 Feb 8:05

  6. The Chelsea owner is Hard and shrewed, How else would­ he have got all his money.
    He appears quite and­ considering all his options all the time.
    He is­ supporting his Manager and will do so as long as it­ suits his purpose BUT he will have realised that the­ Tail(Team) is wagged by the dog(owner manager) not the­ other way around. A team of near Hasbeens should be­ more suppportive of their club and team AND SUPPORTERS­ by playing hard for the TEAM and not their own egos. It­ may be that the are gone before their time and lose­ their overpriced wage packets.
    They appear not to­ support AVB and Torres, being concerned with their own­ so called status.Have the has beens become childish and­ jealous too.

    From Den the Man, on Wed 15 Feb 6:12

  7. Bring back Ray Wilkins

    From maddy, on Wed 15 Feb 4:34

  8. I'd rather Have Claudio back than Jose. At least he­ built the best squad we've had for years. Mourinho­ benefitted from it more than most acknowledge. AVB­ needs time and the "cancer" in the squad­ needs turfing out at the end of the season. Ship one of­ the "gang of four" out and the remaining­ three might start to think a little more carefully and­ start playing for the team again rather than sulking.­ Mid table mediocrity is all we can look forward to if­ they stay on yet another year.

    From Nifty, on Wed 15 Feb 3:39

  9. AVB become a assistant to the special one... so that he­ will learn more from the special one... the door now is­ open to jose mourinho... love to see him back to­ chelsea

    From John, on Wed 15 Feb 1:02

  10. Mick Mcarthy...he'll turn it round.

    From RICHARD, on Tue 14 Feb 23:42
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    lol he proberly threatned them like he usually does the­ prick, chelskip are finished plain and simple...racist­ captain with a racist fanbase and a corrupted little­ crook for a owner...once a small club and always a­ small club.

    From Eddie Hitler, on Tue 14 Feb 22:02

  12. point#1 : Mourinho isnt coming back ....deal with it­ !!
    point#2 : there definitely is a link with the­ betrayal of a chelsea legend and all that has­ followed ,and indeed if the stories are to be believed ­ it is mr buck that is firmly in the wrong .
    point#3: ­ allegedly during sundays "meeting" ,the­ players (average wage 70k per week ,had to work their­ day off, bless em ) accused AVB of getting it wrong­ tactically ,he turned it round and put it down to­ attitude and lack of belief . i think he has the­ stronger point after enduring the 90 minutes !
    david­ moyes was welcoming his 7th chelsea boss during his­ reign at everton on saturday ,that says more about­ the boardroom at chelsea then it does at everton .

    From Clive, on Tue 14 Feb 21:06

  13. THE SPECIAL ONE'S HEART LIES AT CHELSEA FOOTBALL­ CLUB !!!!!

    From pat.reyford, on Tue 14 Feb 19:56

  14. I TOTALLY AGREE WITH COMMENT No 9 . PLAIN AND SIMPLE­ !!!!!!

    From pat.reyford, on Tue 14 Feb 19:56

  15. I agree with comment 22. No one know that story!

    From Rowan H, on Tue 14 Feb 18:29

  16. totally agree with comments 24,25 and 26 . too much­ player power .AVB may look he s drowning and not waving­ but its also about time the players were made­ accountable .
    The players are allegedly upset they­ were told to come in on their day off on sunday and­ allegedly aired their grievances to Abramovich .
    well­ welcome to the real world ,fellahs , its not as if­ you worked much on the previous day !

    As for­ "bring back the special one " ,aint going­ to happen ,get over it ,move on !!

    From Clive, on Tue 14 Feb 17:55

  17. Our family are true blues and have been for years,,and­ our views are ,,,get torres out on loan in spain ,,sack­ Terry that may just start to make the others think­ ,,seems to us that the inner circle that is known to be­ in play in the changeing room ,,terry lampard droggie ­ czech and cole are trying to get AVB the sack as they­ did with big phil,,,anybody that comes in and upsets­ there little mafia type clique seems doomed to be a­ target for them ,,the quality of play goes down there­ is only one way to stop it and thats to let them see­ they dont rule the club,,,people go to work all week­ and earn there pay if there attitude was i dont care as­ i have a sulk on they would be sacked,,the clique are­ stealing money of the fans,,yes stealing the fans­ money..we have seen the ups and downs of our club for­ many years,and would be pleased to see us rebuild even­ if we end up mid table for a few years before we reach­ the top again with a squad that wanted to play for the­ blues,,

    From ANGELA, on Tue 14 Feb 17:31

  18. Whats wrong at this club? Well its two much player­ power from once good players.
    The only blame that can­ be put on AVB is that he is naive and allows these has­ beens to run the team and therefore run the team down­ the table.
    The club now needs a good clearout.

    From Den the Man, on Tue 14 Feb 16:46

  19. Have to agree with comment 9.I have been a Chelsea fan­ for 47yrs now,and i have to say that I cant believe the­ state that they are in.They have No­ Commitment,Belief,Team Play,Discipline,its as if­ everyman on the Team is playin for himself.I dont think­ AVB has complete control on the Team,and it shows.We­ have lost games that we should have won without­ problems,but again the "WILL" to win was­ lacking,and to be honest I cant see us lasting in the­ Champions League or even earning a place for next­ season.

    From BOBDAWWG, on Tue 14 Feb 6:43

  20. i feel sorry for roman,with all that money spent ,all­ he wanted was for he's players to win and play as a­ team the ducking money some of those players are on­ make me sick,they need to wake up,it never has been­ about the manager its the players,after all these­ years.one day roman's going to look up and say­ thats it i've had it with chelsea,but if some or­ all the players had the same faith chelsea would be the­ greatest team in the world. i hope that happens in my­ life team

    From Michael john, on Tue 14 Feb 6:33
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