Jose Mourinho is a man under immense pressure.
After storming to the Premier League title last year, his second season of the Second Coming has seen his Chelsea side lose six in 11.
The papers are on his back with talk of player mutinies, dressing room unrest and talk of owner Roman Abramovich sharpening the axe if Chelsea don’t starting picking up points and turning around this current malaise.
But Mourinho was in no mood to play ball with journalists and was his normal ebullient self in a typically combative press conference ahead of their key Champions League game with Dynamo Kiev.
There were some questions that Jose just wouldn’t answer.
It’s been the subject of much debate, but how long has Jose been given to turn things around? Has he spoken to Chelsea’s Russian owners about his future? Would he put the rumours to bed?
“I don’t have to answer that. I don’t have to answer you whether I was with the owner or not.”
So how long does he have?
“Four years. In this case three years and seven months.”
Chelsea have the same team and the same manager as last season, so the obvious question was put to Jose about the reason behind his side’s awful form this season. Jose knows, but he won’t let on.
“Yes I know,” he said.
Can you give us a clue?
“No, because I will be here for a long time. It’s a combination of factors. Some of them I can’t, or I don’t want to even touch them.”
Are they football related?
“Everything is football related, of course.”
Every team has a blip. But this blip is going on and on and on. Why can’t Chelsea turn it around?
“I don’t want to say much more. I told you already its a combination of factors, its not one reason. One reason would be easy to fix. I don’t want to say more than that.”
With stadium bans, FA bans and meltdown post-match interview, he was asked whether he felt he was dealing with the dismal run with dignity.
“Do you know the way in this moment I’m going to show my dignity? It’s not to answer you. It’s the way I show my dignity.”
He did give a pretty straight, if not curt answer on whether there was truth in the story players had complained about the way. Mourinho was making them play.
“No.”
