AVB confident of Abramovich support
Andre Villas-Boas firmly believes owner Roman Abramovich continues to share the same vision for their Chelsea "project". The man who bankrolled Chelsea's rise was on hand to watch first hand this week as Villas-Boas put the squad through their paces, looking to bounce back from last weekend's draw with Manchester United in a game they had led 3-0.
Villas-Boas has welcomed Abramovich's interest, and said: "There is great empathy and motivation for next year's project. At the moment it has been very good, very positive. He is a good person to share knowledge with, ask questions and try to give answers regarding what I do. I think its legitimate, and would compare it to a normal club president/manager relationship."
He added: "When we set up with this team, we believed that the team was ready for four trophies.
"We had a transfer window open when we didn't do any market activity, apart from Gary [Cahill], so we are confident on playing still to reach the objectives that we have for this season with this team and then eventually move on to what is next year.
"Now we have a Champions League objective. We still play two prestigious trophies."
It is three years since Abramovich sacked Luiz Felipe Scolari after beginning to fear Chelsea would not qualify for the Champions League and the club are in an even worse position now than they were then - with a slim lead over the chasing pack, while already seemingly out of the title race.
Carlo Ancelotti, meanwhile, parted company with Chelsea shortly after the season-ending 1-0 defeat at Everton last May.
Villas-Boas, though, insists he cannot let any suggestions of his own position being under scrutiny detract him from the job at hand.
"The reality is that in the last years there was a pattern of managers shifting," said the 34-year-old. "In the end, you have to agree that from 2004 Chelsea has been massively successful. It has been the best period of Chelsea's history. Hopefully we can progress that within the three-year range with me here."
Source: DSG
Source: DSG