Chelsea FC continued their nightmare start to the 2015-2016 Premier League season with a loss at home to Southampton on Saturday, with manager Jos Mourinho giving an extraordinary post-match interview following the defeat
If it wasn’t clear already, it is now. It is a full-blown crisis at Chelsea Football Club. This is the worst start to a campaign the Blues have made for 37 years, since the season in which they got relegated to the second division.
Manager Jos Mourinho produced an incredible 7-minute monologue following the defeat in his post-match interview, where he invited the wrath of the English Football Association (FA) by accusing referees of being scared to give Chelsea FC decisions, as well as insisting that he would not walk away from the job and that Roman Abramovich and the club would have to sack him.
“If the FA wants to punish me, they can punish me”
The Chelsea FC coach began by taking aim at the referees, citing the decision to book Radamel Falcao for diving rather than awarding the Blues a penalty as evidence of the match officials being afraid to give his side decisions in their favour.
Mourinho said (via Goal UK): “When we are in the top, I understand there is quite a big pleasure in putting us down. But when you are so down, I think it’s time to be a little bit honest and to say clearly, the referees are afraid to give decisions for Chelsea.
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“The result at 1-1, there’s a huge penalty [claim] and once more, we don’t get it. And a penalty’s a crucial moment in the game, with the result at 1-1. I repeat, if the FA wants to punish me they can punish me, they don’t punish other managers, it’s not a problem for me. I want to repeat, my players deserve it. Chelsea fans deserve it. I am a Chelsea fan too. The referees are afraid to give decisions to Chelsea.
“Why? Because when they give there is always a question mark from you. There is always a question, always a critic. We are always punished. We are punished because Diego Costa is suspended. In other matches we see the same thing and it doesn’t happen. Clear penalties are not given. And with us, it’s one and one and one and one. Even in the Champions League, which is a game with not three officials but with five. We are not given a penalty in the last minute.”
“If the club sacks me, they sack the best manager this club had”
Mourinho was bullish about his prospects of getting things back on track, but also piercingly honest about how Chelsea FC have handled these situations in the past. The Portuguese claimed the club’s decisions to fire managers has sent out the message to the players that only the manager is guilty, and has not encouraged them to accept their share of responsibility.
“I can also know what you are thinking, what you are saying in the studio, what people imagine, what is going to happen, what isn’t going to happen,” Mourinho is quoted as saying after the match.
“I want to make it cleara 1) I don’t run away; 2) If the club wants to sack me, they have to sack me because I am not running away from my responsibility, my team. To be champion is obviously very, very difficult because the distance is considerable. I am more than convinced that we will finish top four. If the season is so bad that you finish top four, it’s okay; 3) Even more important than the second, I think this is a crucial moment in the history of this club.
“You know why? If the club sacks me, they sack the best manager this club had. And secondly, the message is again the message of bad results. The manager is guilty. This is the message, not just these players, the other ones before, they got [the message] during a decade. This is a moment for everybody to assume their responsibilities. To stick together. This is what I want.”