Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho finds himself under pressure after his sides poor start to the season, Chelsea sit 12th in the Premier League table having only won three out of their first nine games
Mourinho's team have also had similar fortune in the Champions League, third in the group after a goalless draw against Dinamo Kiev and in what's becoming a repetitive theme Mourinho deflected the blame away from his players and placed it on referee Damir Skomina 'The referee was weak and naive, it's a big penalty,' said Mourinho
'I keep not understanding, what the goal referee does
Because (he) doesn't make a clear decision
The Chelsea manager went on to compare Skomina to rugby referee Craig Joubert who was heavily criticised after awarding Australia a late penalty in Sunday's quarter-final
"He made one mistake and, for example in the Rugby World Cup, the referee in the Scotland game was very good
Mourinho added "But he made one mistake and because of that mistake Scotland is crying."
This isn't the first time the Portuguese manager has openly criticised a refereeing performance, just last week Mourinho was fined £50,000 and given a suspended one match stadium ban after his claims that referees were 'afraid to give decisions to Chelsea' after his side's 3-1 loss at home to Southampton
It's hard to look at statistics that can justify Mourinho's comments, it would be almost impossible to add up the amount of 'non penalties' that the Chelsea manager believes they should have had, but since the 2010-11 season Chelsea have been awarded 36 penalties, only Manchester City (38) and Liverpool (37) have been awarded more
They were also interestingly the team with the most bookings for simulation last season (5) .
So are Mourinho's comments justified? Or is it all a big tactical mind game to put referees who come to Stamford Bridge under pressure in a similar way that Alex Ferguson did for many years at Old Trafford
Mr Mourinho suggested that they were being target 'because when they do give there is always a question mark from you (the media), there is always a critic
So we are always punished' There seems to be no logical reasoning why referees or the FA for that matter would target Chelsea anymore than their title rivals Manchester City, Arsenal or Manchester United and of course it's pundits job to question such things as a penalty decision regardless of who it is given to.
Another reason could be to try and deflect some of the focus away from his players, who put bluntly have played way below standard at the start of the season
Mourinho has been fined seven times in the last ten years and it could perhaps be time he started focusing on his team more rather than the first thing he mentions in the post match press conference be another dig at the referee's performance.
No manager should come out and start throwing his players under the bus so to speak, but Mourinho has to look at his players and himself for their poor start instead of making Referees a scape goat
Nemanja Matic was brought on and subbed off in the second half against Southampton, John Terry the captain was substituted for the first time ever under Mourinho against Manchester City and Eden Hazard was dropped for the 2-0 win at home to Aston Villa on the weekend after a poor start to the season from him
A lack of motivation could be suggested after no real changes were made to the squad that ran away with the league last season, admittedly the teams around them have improved their squads but most pundits still backed Chelsea to retain their title at the start of the season
Clearly there is a confidence issue at Chelsea football club that needs to be resolved and fast if they are to have any chance of a trophy this season.
Source : DSG
Source: DSG