Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will not be sacked
during the international break after owner Roman
Abramovich decided against making a change at this
stage of the season.
Goal understands that Abramovich is reluctant to
remove Mourinho now due to a lack of available
replacements, with top targets Pep Guardiola Diego Simeone unavailable mid-season.
Mourinho is under huge pressure with Chelsea sitting
16th in the Premier League table and many players
understood to have turned against the Portuguese
.
Last season’s champions have lost seven of their 12
league fixtures this season, the latest a 1-0 defeat to
Stoke City on Saturday during which Mourinho served
a one-match stadium ban.
Chelsea backed Mourinho with an unprecedented
vote of confidence last month but have since lost
three of their four Premier League matches and
been knocked out of the League Cup.
Abramovich has been considering Mourinho’s future
amid fears that the club will miss out on a place in
next season’s Champions League given they are
already 13 points off the top four.
The Russian billionaire is prepared to sack Mourinho
but has decided to give him more time to turn
Chelsea’s season around, with the Stamford Bridge
hierarchy believed to have a number of reservations
about making a change now.
The lack of an obvious replacement is the key issue,
especially when there is a likelihood that
Abramovich’s preferred targets could become
available next summer.
Guardiola is out of contract with Bayern Munich next
summer while Simeone is believed to be ready to
move to the Premier League, with the Atletico
Madrid coach and members of his backroom staff
currently learning English.
But neither would join Chelsea midway through the
season and nor would former Blues manager Carlo
Ancelotti consider returning to west London before
the end of the campaign. Guus Hiddink, a potential
interim option, left his job as Netherlands coach in
June during a poor Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
Chelsea would also have to pay Mourinho and his
backroom staff a significant severance package after
he signed a £30 million four-year deal in August. It is
unknown whether there are any financial clauses in
his contract relating to the club’s qualification for the
Champions League.
Mourinho is the most successful manager in Chelsea’s
history and retains the vocal support of the club’s
supporters, while he has insisted that he will not
resign.
It means he will be given more time to turn the
Blues’ season around but he is well aware that the
boardroom consider current results and
performances unacceptable.
Goal reported on Sunday that a significant proportion
of the dressing room have turned against Mourinho
and are feeling disillusioned.
The former Real Madrid and Inter coach has also
found himself in hot water with the football
authorities and received a one-match stadium ban
and a fine after the 2-1 loss to West Ham in October.
Mourinho’s off-field conduct has been received badly
in the Stamford Bridge boardroom, where there are
concerns about the damage being done to the club’s
image.
Mourinho faced heavy criticism after he publicly axed
doctor Eva Carneiro, a popular member of the
backroom team, earlier this season.
Carneiro is suing Chelsea for constructive dismissal
and is also taking individual legal action against
Mourinho.
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