Month: November 2015

Jose Mourinho has chosen not to appeal against the stadium ban that the Football Association issued him with in the aftermath of Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to West Ham on October 24th. It means he will not be present in the stadium for the Blues’ game against Stoke City this weekend.

The 52 year old can travel with the team and be responsible for substitutions, but he will not be allowed to enter The Britannia Stadium. Speaking of his decision not to appeal the ban Mourinho said, “I have decided to give up. It is stupid to fight a fight you know you are going to lose”.

The punishment against Mourinho came on the back of his behaviour during his side’s game against West Ham United at The Boleyn Ground. The charge was for misconduct owing to the Portuguese manager’s language and behaviour. It is believed that he attempted to enter the referee’s room during the half-time interval in order to speak to the match referee about his decisions.

Mourinho was sent to the stands for the second half of the match and had to watch from the West Ham executive box as Andy Carroll scored the winner in the London derby. Asked about where he will watch the Stoke game from and how he feels about the self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ said, “You can imagine that it’s not easy. You can imagine how I feel. I have no plans to watch. Maybe I sit in the street corner with my iPad. Maybe I don’t even watch the game. Maybe, live scores? Results?”

On top of the stadium plan Jose Mourinho was also given a £40,000 fine. After the loss to West Ham Chelsea went on to lose to Stoke City, the side they face this weekend, on penalties in the League Cup before losing 3-1 at home to Liverpool. It is the sixth loss Mourinho’s side has suffered in the league this season, leaving them in 15th place in the Premier League on 11 points after the same amount of games.

In a separate incident, Mourinho has been fined £50,000 by the Football Association and given a one match suspended stadium ban because of comments he made in the wake of his team’s game against Southampton at Stamford Bridge. Mourinho did appeal against the fine but the FA dismissed his appeal.

Speaking about the stadium ban that will keep him from the touchline this weekend the defending Premier League champion’s manager said, “This stadium ban is connected to words, to complaints. I can imagine that in the future we are going to have lots of managers with stadium bans, because the stadium bans should be related to something really serious”.

The Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will be the subject of an individual league action from the club’s former first-team doctor Eva Carneiro, it has emerged.

Unless there is an out of court settlement over the issue Jose Mourinho will have to appear at an employment tribunal. Carneiro’s lawyers are already suing the football club itself over constructive dismissal claims, but the legal claim against the Portuguese manager will be a separate one.

Carneiro was dropped from first-team duties earlier in the season after Mourinho called her ‘naive’ for her decision to treat Eden Hazard on the pitch during Chelsea’s opening game of the season against Swansea City at Stamford Bridge. The doctor and Chelsea’s physio, Jon Fearn, ran on to the pitch when Hazard was down injured and they had been called on several times by the match referee.

Mourinho was angry with their decision to enter the field of play. Chelsea were already down to ten men after their goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was sent off for a deliberate foul on Swansea’s striker Bafetimbi Gomis. It meant that Hazard had to leave the pitch, temporarily leaving the Blues with just nine players.

Mourinho said after the match, “I was unhappy with my medical staff. They were impulsive and naive. Whether you are a kit man, doctor or secretary on the bench you have to understand the game. You have to know you have one player less and to assist a player you must be sure he has a serious problem. I was sure Eden did not have a serious problem. He had a knock. He was tired”.

The self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ was widely criticised for his comments but the Football Association cleared him of using discriminatory language in the incident. Carneiro, however, claimed that she was not spoke to personally during the FA’s investigation into the matter, despite the fact that the FA themselves say she was given an opportunity to speak.

The fact that Eva Carneiro’s lawyers have launched an individual legal claim against Mourinho on the grounds of victimisation and discrimination suggests that they feel the manager was instrumental in Carneiro’s apparent demotion in the aftermath of the incident. Neither Carneiro nor her lawyers were willing to comment on the matter as the legal proceedings are still active, whilst Chelsea have also declined to comment on the matter.

The way the Football Association has handled the case has been criticised by Heather Rabbatts, an FA independent director, as well as by the Women in Football network group. Rabbatts is the chair of the governing body’s Inclusion Advisory Board and will question the FA chief executive Martin Glenn and the head of governance Darren Bailey about the handling of the case. Meanwhile the FA themselves will be investigation Rabbatts regarding her comments on the investigation.

The legal action is the latest moment in a series of difficult incidents for the Chelsea manager, with the Football Association having hit him with two separate fines of £40,000 and £50,000 as well as a stadium ban and a one-match suspended stadium ban for incidents regarding his behaviour towards referees. It also comes on the back of his side’s 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool, leaving his side 15th in the Premier League with just eleven points after the same amount of games.

Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has denied that he is anything to do with rumoured unrest in the Blues’ dressing room. The ‘Secret Footballer’ blog, apparently run by an ex-professional footballer who still has contacts in the game, claimed that the Spaniard was ‘the leader’ of a ‘mini-revolt’ at the defending Premier League champions.

With the Blues having lost six of their first eleven Premier League games so far this season, culminating in the 3-1 home loss to Liverpool, rumours have circulated in several quarters that Chelsea’s players aren’t happy with Mourinho’s management of the squad. Garry Richardson, from the BBC, was told by a source that a first team member of the Chelsea squad said he would rather ‘lose than win’ for Mourinho. Speculation ensued as to who that player might be, with Fabregas the main suspect.

The Spanish international has been quick to dismiss the links, however, taking to Twitter to say, “I would like to clarify that contrary to a few reports from some websites, I am extremely happy at Chelsea and have an excellent relationship with the manager. There may be certain individuals from the outside trying to destabilise this club but I strongly believe that we will bounce back and come good again”.

The 28 year old joined last year’s champions from Barcelona in June 2014. He was instrumental in Chelsea’s championship winning campaign last year, but has been less than impressive so far this time out. The former Arsenal man has only managed to find the net once so far this season, during the Champion’s League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv on the 16th of September. Fabregas was substituted after just 45 minutes in the match against West Ham last week and he only made it on to the pitch for 20 minutes against Liverpool on Saturday.

Jose Mourinho has been given a one match stadium ban and fined £40,000 by the FA. The action comes on the back of the Portuguese manager’s behaviour during the defeat to West Ham on the 24th of October.

The self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ was sent into the stands by the match referee Jon Moss after he attempted to get into the referee’s room during the half-time break. The referee’s room is a private area that manager’s are forbidden from entering.

The 52 year old could appeal against the Football Association’s punishment when he receives their written reasons this week, but if he doesn’t then he won’t be allowed to enter the stadium during the defending Premier League champion’s game against Stoke City on Saturday.

To make matters worse for the Portuguese manager this stadium ban and fine is separate the the one-match suspended stadium ban he received alongside a £50,000 fine for things said in relation to the referee after Chelsea’s loss to Southampton on 3rd October. Mourinho described the fine as a ‘disgrace’ and appealed against it, so it would be a surprise if he declined the opportunity to appeal against this one too, even if he did admit to a misconduct charge over his language and his behaviour during the incident.

The Football Association had originally also lodged an improper conduct charge against Mourinho’s assistant Silvino Louro. They have since withdrawn the charge but reminded him of his responsibilities.

The stadium ban and fine merely add to Mourinho’s problems, with his side languishing in 15th place in the Premier League having lost six games from their opening eleven matches in the top flight. It is Chelsea’s worse start to a league campaign since 1978-1979 when a win was only worth 2 points. It is also officially the worst defence of a Premier League crown since Blackburn Rovers in 1994.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, former Chelsea midfielder – and the club’s all time top scorer – Frank Lampard offered a defence of Jose Mourinho, saying, “He is a world-class manager. I think they should stick with him but results need to change now”.

Jose Mourinho has denied that there is anything even approaching a revolt from the players in his Chelsea team, suggesting that it’s the journalists who are claiming it’s true that are being dishonest, not his players.

The London club’s 3-1 loss at home to Liverpool over the weekend means that the defending Premier League champions have now lost six of their first eleven league matches. The result has left them 15th in the top flight table, just four points off the relegation zone.

Mourinho, speaking in his pre-match press conference before his side play against Dynamo Kiev in the Champion’s League, said, “It’s a very sad accusation because you are accusing players, or one player, of dishonesty. It is a question for the players. If I accuse you to be a dishonest journalist, you would be very upset and probably would take legal action”.

The Blues only lost three games in the league last season, yet they are already 14 points behind the current league leaders Manchester City. The chance of them retaining their title is virtually zero and they also face a serious challenge to even make it into the top four.

That has led some members of the press to speculate on whether or not the Chelsea players are still playing for their manager, with the BBC’s Gary Richardson being told by a source that one player said recently, “I’d rather lose than win for him [Mourinho]”. It is a sensational quote if true, and many people are suggesting that the manager’s relationship with Eden Hazard is at breaking point.

The self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ was asked whether he thought he had taken ‘too many bullets’ for his players and he replied, “For my players I do everything, I am not going to change”. The implication in his answer being that he is incensed that his players have been accused of not playing for him as he would do anything for them.

It is generally felt that the mask has been slipping on Mourinho in recent weeks, with ex-pros, such as Jamie Carragher and Ruud Gullit, suggesting that the Portuguese boss is ‘throwing his toys out of the pram’. Asked if he had lost his dignity he replied, “This moment the way I am going to show my dignity is not to answer you”.

In recent weeks Jose Mourinho has been determined to create a siege mentality, suggesting that Chelsea have been the victims of a conspiracy from the Football Association. His feelings weren’t assuaged after Liverpool scored their equaliser after the two minutes of added time had expired at the end of the first half, as well as when Lucas Leiva was lucky to avoid a second yellow card for a tackle on Ramires during the second half.

Chelsea were fortunate themselves, however, when John Terry was not punished for what appeared to be a deliberate handball. Diego Costa also avoided the referee’s notebook after committing a stamp on Martin Skrtel’s chest when the two players came together in a tackle. Mourinho ignored those incidents, though, and insinuated that the club’s recent form is, in part, down to the lack of luck they’re having with officials. He said, “I know why [we’re struggling]. I would be here for a long time to explain, it is a combination of factors. Some of them I don’t want to touch. But, yes, I know. Everything is football-related”.

Chelsea play host to Dynamo Kiev in the Champion’s League on Wednesday night before travelling to The Britannia Stadium to face Stoke – the team that knocked them out of the League Cup during the week – on Saturday.