No Crisis at Chelsea says Mourinho
Published 1/14/2007 10:22:27 PM by AFP from London
LONDON (AFP) - Jose Mourinho has dismissed talk of a crisis at Chelsea after his side´s 4-0 win over Wigan at Stamford Bridge. The days leading up to Saturday´s match were dominated by speculation that the manager was ready to leave Chelsea after growing frustrated at his lack of influence over the club´s transfer dealings.
Mourinho, who has led Chelsea to two successive Premiership titles, is unhappy at the club´s failure to sign reinforcements during the transfer window and said he would leave if Chelsea ever tried, as has been suggested, to remove his assistant Steve Clarke from his position. And while he would not be drawn conclusively on his own future, he revealed that Petr Cech, who suffered a fractured skull in the win at Reading in October, will be fit to return in goal for Chelsea next week.
Mourinho sought to stabilise the club after a turbulent week, which at least ended with Chelsea staying within touching distance of Manchester United, who beat Asto n Villa 3-1 at Old Trafford. "I don´t understand what you could mean by saying there are problems at this club," he said. "We are, in the last two years, a winning club. And because winning is part of our lives it is normal that, when we don´t win, the club is not a happy place. We are alive in all four competitions. We are not top of the league but we are still in a good situation. On Monday we have a 50-million-pound player with us, and the best thing is that we don't have to pay anything for him. The best goalkeeper in the world is ready to play. After three months in which Hilario and the other keepers have done well, Petr is ready to come back.
"Did I want to bring players here this month? That´s the old story again. I have to work with what I have, which is not much, and that is a big challenge for me. I have no John Terry, no Joe Cole, but there is no point crying about it, I have to get on with my job. I can say that stories about Steve Clarke leaving are not true. He is such a good assistant to me and the club respects that. If the club tried to do that, they would have to remove he and I together at the same time."
Mourinho had issued a call to arms in his pre-match programme notes, which many observers might interpret as a further dig at the Stamford Bridge hierarchy. He wrote: "Are you up for the challenge of playing without the best goalkeeper in the world, the best central defender in the world, their deputies and more, and still going for the Premiership title, the League Cup and the FA Cup, with the Champions League to look forward to?
"Are you all up for the challenge? Are you ready to enjoy us playing with 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds and still chasing these prizes?"
The fact that the Chelsea manager could boast 47 million pounds worth of talent on his substitutes´ bench appeared to be neither here nor there, and this was not lost on Wigan manager Paul Jewell.
In the 13th minute of the match, Frank Lampard´s free-kick from a wide left angle was not attacked by any of the Wigan defenders and the ball was allowed to drift beyond goalkeeper Chris Kirkland for the opener.
Wigan´s Norwegian midfielder Kristofer Haestad endured a debut to forget as he scuffed his 63rd minute backpass from the halfway line, allowing Arjen Robben an easy opportunity to bear down on Kirkland before rounding him and stroking the ball into an empty net.
With Wigan still reeling, Robben picked up the ball on the left six minutes later and his cross from the byline was diverted in for an own goal by Kirkland. Then in stoppage time, Chelsea added a hint of flatte ry to the scoreline when Jon Obi Mikel´s cross from the right was powerfully headed in by Didier Drogba.
"Chelsea have their own problems but it's nothing to do with me. I wouldn´t mind having some of the players they have on their bench," said Jewell. I am missing a third of my players so don´t talk to me about Chelsea being in crisis. It wasn´t a very good team performance by us."
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