Chelsea FC manager Jos Mourinho has evidently been granted a stay of execution by owner Roman Abramovich and the club board, and with an important victory in midweek against Dynamo Kyiv, the Blues will go into the match against Stoke City on Saturday with high spirits.
They won’t, however, have their manager to guide them during the match, with the Portuguese serving a one-match stadium ban for his actions towards referee John Moss during half-time in the 2-1 defeat to West Ham United.
Mati insists Blues will try to win for their manager
There have been several reports in the British media in the past weeks about dressing room mutiny, but the players have shown a united front thus far. Serbian Nemanja Mati told the Guardian that it would be strange to not have Mourinho giving instructions from the touchline, but insisted that the team would try and win for the punished Chelsea FC manager.
“Of course it is more easy when the coach is on the bench and especially at half-time, when he can say something,” said Mati . “But we also have other great coaches, and they will be prepared for everything, and we have to be ready for that.
“Ita s going to be strange, of course. I think that Ia m here almost two years and we have not played without a coach yet, so it is going to be strange, but this is football and we will be ready.
“We want to win, and of course we want to win also for the coach, for our club, and we know that in the last couple of weeks, when everyone has been saying we are bad, we know that we have quality.”
Could it be Mourinho’s last game in charge?
Although Chelsea FC fans would likely have banished all thoughts of a possible sacking after an emotionally charged victory against Dynamo Kyiv, the picture in the Premier League has not changed at all. The Blues are still in serious danger of missing out on a place in the top four, and a defeat would only worsen the situation.
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Mourinho may be the best manager in the world, but Abramovich could well have reached a point where he decides to cut his losses and bring in a new manager. The support from the crowd at Stamford Bridge — and the subsequent media coverage it received — will likely make the Chelsea FC owner think twice about making unpopular decisions however, and unless the result at the Britannia Stadium is too disastrous, Mourinho is likely to still be in the job at least until the end of the year.