Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has in the past week faced suggestions that his future at the club could be in jeopardy, less than four months into his debut campaign with the Blues. Having suffered a fifth defeat of the season at home to Liverpool, his side’s second consecutive loss at Stamford Bridge, followed by surrendering a one-goal lead to go down 2-1 at Bayer Leverkusen, a result which leaves the club’s Champions League aspirations on a knife-edge, a familiar cascade of speculation has fallen upon the club in recent days, although eased somewhat by the trouncing of Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
A club hierarchy infamous for its ruthless approach to management, rumours have recently begun to circulate that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich may be beginning to lose faith in Villas-Boas, the man Abramovich brought to the club, reportedly at great expense. With Guus Hiddink, believed to be admired by Abramovich having won the FA Cup during a successful short-term spell with Chelsea, now available following his departure from the Turkey national side, Villas-Boas has been forced to publicly defend the strength of his own relationship with the Chelsea board.
A key component of the Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge, Villas-Boas served as Mourinho’s opposition scout as Chelsea secured back-to-back Premier League titles, a feat never before seen at the club. Despite this unprecedented success, Mourinho and his backroom staff departed in 2007, with the Chelsea hierarchy reportedly growing frustrated at Mourinho’s methods, a system built on a foundation of defensive stability often taking precedence over attacking flair and creativity. However, in the years following Mourinho’s departure, every predecessor since the now-Real Madrid Coach has faced almost inevitable comparisons to his successful era, a task now facing Mourinho’s former prot
