Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck has backed Jose Mourinho’s abrasive style of leadership.

Mourinho has courted controversy in the 18 months since he took over at Chelsea and following Tuesday’s exit from the Champions League, he has been accused of being ungracious in defeat.

Chelsea are also facing an FA misconduct charge for failing to control their players in last weekend’s game at West Brom.

Nonetheless, Mourinho retains the support of the Stamford Bridge herarchy.

“Jose is a superb coach,” said Buck. “He is a very kind, considerate human being, very family orientated.

“He really cares about the well-being of his players. He looks at them as human beings and he is trying to do the best for them.

“He really believes in what he is doing so I would not change.

“We’ve provided more copy for the media than any other club in the history of mankind.

“Jose comes out with some very interesting, perceptive comments and I love going to his press conferences to listen to him.

“Everyone is always trying to knock the top team off its pedestal,” he added. “That’s natural, we don’t take it personally. We accept that as a fact of life.

“Manchester United were at the top and people were always taking pot-shots at them. We are getting a few too many pot-shots but we can deal with that.”

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