Villas-Boas calls for club to back him
Under-fire Blues boss chooses eve of Champions League clash to request the support of the board
NAPOLI vs CHELSEA
CHELSEA manager Andre Villas-Boas has responded to fresh questions regarding his future by challenging the club’s hierarchy to underline their faith in his ability by providing him with public backing.
A 1-1 draw at home against Birmingham in the FA Cup on Saturday, a performance greeted with jeers at the final whistle, triggered fresh speculation ahead of tonight’s Champions League clash in Naples that the Portuguese would fail to see out his first season in the job.
Villas-Boas remains confident he will avoid becoming the sixth managerial casualty of the Roman Abramovich era but, in front of watching chairman Bruce Buck and chief executive Ron Gourlay, declared his words would continue to ring hollow until a senior club official put their head above the parapet to offer words of support.
“It’s the richest part of Chelsea’s history, full of trophies and success, and you want to perpetuate that into the future,” said the 34-year-old. “To do that, you have to sometimes make changes because you cannot sustain the same habits that you had in 2004.
“These words would be more valuable coming from the top. I cannot keep saying them but, as the voice of the club, I will continue to perpetuate this message because this is what we believe in.”
As a consequence of their wretched domestic form the Blues have been chalked up as underdogs for tonight’s last 16 first leg clash against a Napoli side who have already ended Manchester City’s involvement in the competition.
Having presided over such an alarming fall from grace the former Porto boss was willing to concede he is hardly on the firmest of ground at present but revealed he was confident enough in his role to have already embarked on the task of plotting for next season.
He said: “In terms of the results this year, the speculation is normal given the cultural past of this football club, but there’s a different perspective now.
“I’m confident about next year. We had a three-year project to change not only the team, but the culture and structure of the club.”