Jose Mourinho received the dreaded “vote of confidence” from Chelsea today. It’s odd how these types of statements, designed to reaffirm and strengthen, almost always prelude a weakening relationship that could soon dissolve.
Here’s what the Chelsea statement read:
The club wants to make it clear that Jose continues to have our full support.
As Jose has said himself, results have not been good enough and the team’s performances must improve. However, we believe that we have the right manager to turn this season around and that he has the squad with which to do it.
Mourinho said, following the 3-1 loss to Southampton on Saturday ‘If the club sacks me they sack the best manager this club ever had.” (Here’s the full quote). Chelsea are off to their worst start in 37 years, a season in which they were relegated. They’re currently hovering just a couple spots above the drop zone. You can best believe that Mourinho will be sacked if the Blues remain there much longer. If Chelsea is eliminated from the group stages of Champions League, that could also potentially lead to Mourinho’s dismissal.
It’s rumored that Chelsea Owner Roman Ambramovich has a strained relationship with Mourinho.
As the losses mount and Mourinho’s seat warms, the embattled Blues boss has found new and creative ways to publicly express his frustrations.
In recent weeks, we’ve been treated to Mourinho: firing a classless passive-aggressive shot at Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger, calling a reporter’s line of questioning stupid, admitting that this is the worst period of his career, showing some despair regrading his ability to fix the situation, saying he is “not a magician” after one loss and calling some of his own players “rats.”
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Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye. He also appears regularly on numerous talk shows all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.