Jose Mourinho has increased the pressure on the Chelsea board to back him by enlisting the support of club captain John Terry.
Terry is in talks over a new contract and Mourinho claims that the centre-back has indicated that he wants an assurance about the manager’s position at the club, before committing to a new deal.
Mourinho appears to be telling the board that it will upset Chelsea’s skipper if there is a change of manager next summer.
“When he tells me that it will be very difficult for him to play under another manager in his career and he would like to do it with me to the end of his career it’s because he accepts my philosophy as his philosophy,” said Mourinho.
“He feels comfortable. So it’s a process. It’s not a clique. Gary Neville says the same about Sir Alex [Ferguson] – that he would like to do his whole career with him. He is comfortable with him.”
The manager confirmed that Terry had asked him during contract negotiations whether he would be at the club next season. “My answer was ‘I think so’,” he said.
According to reports it is the role of Ukrainian striker Andrii Shevchenko that lies at the heart of his rift with the club’s owner Roman Abramovich. The striker returned to the starting line-up for Tuesday’s Carling Cup encounter against Wycombe and rewarded Mourinho with two goals in the comfortable 4-0 win.
“I’m very happy Sheva got the message,” Mourinho said. “If somebody thought I’m not playing him because I have a personal situation with him, it is a very silly thought from somebody who doesn’t understand the game. I want to win. I have to play the team I think is best for the team.”
“Tonight he gave us what we need. I think it’s not easy to do it with a clique. This is Chelsea, this is a Jose Mourinho team with specific qualities and a specific philosophy and you need some time to do that.
“I want him to repeat what he did, and I’m not speaking about the goals because goals depend on many things, but in his movements, his contributions to the team, his effort to create spaces, his work to win the ball.
“I don’t think it’s the moment yet for fireworks but it’s a step forward,” he said. “I’m very happy.”
