Andre Villas-Boas today insisted he had no fear of being forced out of Chelsea by player power, despite admitting he may have lost the backing of some of his squad.
Blues boss Villas-Boas declared he retained the "full" support of the only man who matters at Stamford Bridge, even if Roman Abramovich chose not to publicly declare it.
Indeed, Villas-Boas claimed he would be more worried if the Russian did break his long public silence over the club he has poured more than £1billion into to give his manager a vote of confidence.
The Portuguese was more than content with private assurances that the owner would not bow to the kind of mutiny which previous Chelsea managers have suggested led to their own undoing. Asked if he was confident Abramovich listened to him ahead of the players, Villas-Boas said: "Yeah, for sure."
Insisting he was "really not concerned" about being ousted by those who reportedly challenged him openly during a team meeting on Sunday, he added: "My authority is total because it's the owner's authority."
Asked whether all of the players backed him, he said: "They don't have to back my project. It's the owner who backs my project." Pressed further on whether certain individuals were against the changes he was making, he said: "That is normal."
Comment 1 - 7 of 7
Kieran #6, We would love to see him take that action but he does not! Every week he substitutes the busiest and most effective player Danny Sturridge. He keeps picking the deadbeats and yesterdays men. He made the decisions to change a team that was winning 3 - 0 at home to Man U. Been a Chelsea fan since the early 60's and would love to see him get rid of the tired older players, we will still love them for what they have done in the past, Drogba, Terry, Lampard, Cole, add to that Malouda, Torres, Ferreira, Mikel, Bosingwa play the young up and coming guys who want to work and listen and learn. BUT HE TALKS TOUGH AND ACTS WEAK. So we can moan!!
I'm not a Chelsea fan(Evertoninan) but its obvious to many that the group of players that Lampard,Cole,Terry are not the players they were 4 or 5 years ago. Also the way that the Press have built them up has led them to believe they are Chelsea and are more important than the team itself.
Interesting to note that same group of players with one or 2 similar players for one or two more Prem clubs( LFC's Gerrard springs to mind)are the same ones who undermined England's last World Cup upset with Capello's training methods.
Its time to move forward and that means doing what Fergie did with Robson/Mc Grath/Whiteside and show them the door,nobody is bigger than the club they represent,Chelsea fans need to back the manager not their Heroes of yesterday maybe then they will have a winning team .
AVB is a Joke!!People dont go to football matches to watch Football coaches Mr AVB.If you think Chelsea Fans are attracted to your touchline antics you are wrong.You chased Anelka and Alex but Chelsea is dropping deeper and deeper.You want to chase away some more?I bet it's you Mr AVB who is going.
You mean you didn't hear the sounds of drums at Everton?"You don't know what you are doing".chelsea fans know its you who is not ticking.You dont even read how a game is progressing.Jumping and gesturing on the touchline wont help.
"They don't have to back my project"-Which project ??You are just making Chelsea weaker and weaker.
You bring in a player but doesn't know whether it's a right purchase (Cahill,Lukaku) .The players you demonising as not inline with your project are the ones that saved you.Chelsea is sill in the Champions league and are number 5 in Epl because of these players.
Let your project begin tomorrow (in FA cup) by not featuring the players that are not on your side.Summer will be too late coz you won't be there.Will also be glad to see you featuring your project tools this tuesday in Champions league.
Chelsea needs solutions and not ranting to Newspapers about who is hindering your project.A bad carpenter always blames his tools.
Mickyboy i totally agree with you and i think that even cahill is better than terry nowdays and i aint got a clue what ashley cole and jose bosingwa doing at times. they make us look stupid. i think AVB has 5 days till he leaves. After napoli he will be sacked( i hope so) but unfortunately Guus Hiddink wont take his plae because he signed for Anzhi Makhacskala. I say bring the special 1 back he left his works half way at chelsea and now is the times he should finish it. However i dont know why he sacked Ancelotti when he got us 2nd place last season and gave us a great run of form by the end of the season. Whoever is the next manager will be better than this portugese flop. You must get the backing of the players if you want to get somewhere. Your tactics wont play football on the pitch. Come on CHELSEA
well said louis i agree he has to go forward now and the likes of mouloda cole terry drogba and lampard have to go they are doing what they did to scolariplay to draw and just keep intouch with the top 4 they proberly beat birmingham but i go for a draw thinking he get the sack by the weekend this man has idea but not the players behind him in some places play the young boys and take a chancewith the other we do ok look no cole lampard or terry agaist man united but still went 3-0 up it was the manager bad tactics that lost it napoli will be the big test gets that wrong and its goodbye mate and Huddink to take your place for sure
When the going gets tough, the toughs keep going! AVB is against the wall, have no choice but to take dramatic actions. Got to overhaul the system by getting rid of those superstars, notably the midfield department e.g. none of the players can perform better than the aging Paul Scholar of MU. Torres might be incurred all the wrath of blames but really, this middle lacks idea and fliudity to make things easier for the forwards.
i just love your courage and your believe you've done it with Porto you will with Chelsea
Please login to post a comment
Not already a Yahoo! user ? Sign up to get a free Yahoo! Account