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Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has chosen not to limit his criticism of referees to just those employed by the Football Association and has launched a tired against Damir Skomina, the referee for his side’s Champion’s League match against Dynamo Kiev.

The Blues boss was incensed that his side was not awarded a penalty in their away encounter against the Ukrainian team and compared the referee to the South African Craig Joubert. Joubert was widely criticised for his decision to award Australia a penalty late in their game against Scotland during the rugby World Cup.

Mourinho said, “The referee was very good. I’m serious. He made one mistake and, for example in the Rugby World Cup, the referee in the Scotland game was very good. But he made one mistake and because of that mistake Scotland is crying”. World Rugby has confirmed that Joubert was wrong to award Australia a 78th minute penalty that sent Scotland crashing out of the World Cup, so Mourinho’s comments were clearly laced with irony.

The moment the Chelsea manager was refereeing to was when Cesc Fabregas fell down under a challenge from Dynamo Kiev’s Serhiy Rybalka. Damir Skomina waved away their appeals, an act Mourinho felt was wrong. He said, “The decision was crucial for the outcome. A fall in the box is a penalty”.

The self proclaimed ‘Special One’ also mirrored the language of Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger in his post match comments. Mourinho was incensed when the Football Association punished him for claiming that referees were ‘afraid’ to give Chelsea penalties in the aftermath of their match against Southampton, feeling that his comments suggested bias on the part of the referee. They did not punish Arsene Wenger, however, when the Arsenal manager called Mike Dean ‘weak’ and ‘naive’ when he fell of Diego Costa’s tricks during a fiery London derby.

Mourinho questioned the size of his fine and the suspended one match bad the FA levied on him and made reference to the Arsenal manager’s comments saying, “Afraid costs £50,000. Weak and naive – you can do it”. He then repeated the phrase after the Champion’s League match, saying, “The referee was weak and naive. Big penalty”.

Chelsea had the better chances during the match in Ukraine, hitting the post through Eden Hazard and seeing the ball strike the crossbar after a Willian free kick. They couldn’t find the crucial break through, though, and have now won just one of their past five games in all competitions.

Mourinho remains upbeat, however, and said after the match, “For 70, 75 minutes, we had the control, the initiative, the chances. We hit the post, we had the penalty [turned down]. We had everything but we didn’t score. The result is acceptable because it keeps us in a strong position. We have the game at home. Dynamo plays against Porto so they have to lose points. We are third but we are in a stable position”.

Chelsea sit in third place in Group G of the Champion’s League, having won one, lost one and drawn one of their first three games. They have four points compared to Dynamo Kiev’s five and group leader FC Porto’s seven, but they still have to play Kiev at home and Maccabi Tel Aviv have yet to earn a single point.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho attempted to blame his lack of English language skills for the statement that led the Football Association to fine him £50,000 and give him a one match suspended sentence, with the FA dismissing the notion.

Mourinho was incensed that Robert Madley had not given his side a penalty during the Blues’ game against Southampton before the international break. Radamel Falcao went down under a challenge from the Saints goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, but Madley correctly waved away his appeal as it looked as though he was already falling over before he was touched by the ‘keeper.

The Chelsea boss gave an astonishing seven minute interview to Sky Sports after the match, however, in which he suggested that referees were ‘afraid’ to give his side any penalties. The rant earned him the disapproval of the FA who felt that Mourinho’s words suggested he was implying that the officials were biased; an accusation the Football Association has always made clear that they will clamp down on.

The Portuguese manager described the £50,000 fine the FA have given him as ‘a disgrace’ and called the one match suspended sentence ‘astonishing’. The self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ admitted improper conduct during a hearing about the mater, but he denied questioning the integrity of the match referee Robert Madley.

By way of mitigation for his behaviour Jose Mourinho claimed that his English isn’t very good and that there was a touch of miscommunication during the interview. The Football Association have dismissed that notion, however, saying that the manager’s English is ‘too sophisticated’ for it to be an excuse.

As well as suggesting his English language skills may not be up to scratch the Chelsea manager also felt aggrieved about the fact that other managers seem to be allowed to get away with similarly inflammatory comments. Though he didn’t mention Arsene Wenger by name, Mourinho did question why the Arsenal manager wasn’t picked up on his use of the words ‘weak’ and ‘naive’ to describe the referee Mike Dean after the London derby last month.

The Portuguese maestro also attempted to suggest that his post-match comments were made a moment when tensions were running high, but the FA panel was far from convinced. They said, “Mr Mourinho is an experienced manager and an experienced interviewee. This was not some spur-of-the-moment unguarded outburst. These were quite lengthy comments, delivered calmly and in a controlled way”.

The FA’s panel also felt that the fine they issued Mourinho was justified as previous sanctions have not stopped an escalation in his behaviour. They said, “The more than doubling of the January 2015 fine as compared with the May 2014 fine has not deterred him from this latest and more serious breach. The fair way to impose this deterrent is to suspend the ban so that Mr Mourinho is able quite easily to avoid its ever coming into effect. The matter is in his hands”.

Jose Mourinho has said that he believes his job will be safe even if Chelsea finish in a mid-table position at the the end of this season. The Portuguese manager signed a new four year contract during the summer to extend his second spell in charge of the London club until 2019.

The defending Premier League champions have endured a torrid start to the season, though, winning just three of their first nine games. The have lost four of their matches, with two of those defeats coming at Stamford Bridge – a place that has previously been a fortress during Mourinho’s reign.

Before the victory over Aston Villa the Blues had endured their worst top flight start since 1978-1979, when a win was only worth two points. In spite of their victory over the Midlands team – who have also suffered a poor start to their season – Chelsea are in 12th position in the league table because of Stoke’s win over Swansea on Monday night.

Mourinho, though, is not worried about his place in the managerial hot-seat, even if his team fails to climb out of their mid-table position before the end of the season. Asked whether he would still be in charge next season if Chelsea don’t make the top four he said, “Yes. I was not told that because we don’t expect to finish mid-table”.

The self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ was offered support from the Chelsea board recently and he said he wasn’t too bothered by it, claiming the club’s official statement was ‘to close your mouth’, in reference to the media. He continued, “For me the important thing is the owner and the board’s message to myself. Before the statement came out, I was having the feedback from the owner and the board. So the statement was not something new for me. I met the owner before dinner so, when I went to dinner, I knew. But even before that, I knew what brought me here. I know the conversation we had two years ago. I know what made me sign a new contract, and the reasons why the owner and the board decided to give me a new contract. They didn’t have to. I had still two more years, so they didn’t have to give me a new contract. After a bad result – which is not the first bad result of the season, obviously I was not happy, far from it. But I never thought about being sacked”.

Mourinho’s confidence could be slightly misplaced, though, with Chelsea’s owner Roman Abramovich having not been shy about pulling the trigger on under-performing managers in the past. Claudio Ranieri was sacked in 2004 after the Blues finished second, Mourinho himself was released in 2007 for the same thing, Nvram Grant only took Chelsea to second place in 2008 and was sacked, Luiz Felipe Scolari didn’t even complete the season as Blues boss when he was sacked as things didn’t seem to be going well and his replacement, Guus Hiidink wasn’t asked to stay on when he could only guide the club to third. Carlo Ancelotti was sacked for finishing second in 2011 and Andre Villas-Boas was given his marching orders before the end of the season in 2012, as was Roberto Di Matteo despite the Italian winning the Champion’s League. Rafa Benitez took the club to third and won the Europa League but found that his title of ‘interim manager’ was never extended.

Jose Mourinho may feel that he’ll be safe as manager regardless of Chelsea’s final league position this season, but his own history as well as that of the other Chelsea managers during the Abramovich era tells a somewhat different story.

Jose Mourinho has risked incurring the wrath of the Football Association after describing their decision to fine him a ‘disgrace’. The FA announced on Wednesday that the Chelsea manager would receive a suspended one match stadium ban as well as a £50,000 fine for comments he made in the wake of his team’s defeat to Southampton in the match before the international break.

The defending Premier League champions took the lead thanks to a Willian free kick before goals from Steven Davis, Sadio Mane and Graziano Pelle saw the away team leave with all three points. Mourinho, though, was unhappy that the match referee, Robert Madley, refused to give Chelsea a spot kick when Radamel Falcao went over in the box after a challenge from Southampton’s goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg. It appeared that Falcao was already going down before the ‘keeper touched him, leading many pundits to feel the referee had made the right decision.

However Mourinho gave an astonishing seven minute interview to Sky after the game in which he claimed that referees were ‘afraid’ to give decisions in favour of Chelsea. He said, “He was afraid to give it like everyone else is afraid to give it. Why? Because there is always a question mark from [the media] and always a critic so we are always punished. The penalty in this game is more than crucial because my team, at the moment, the first negative thing that happens… they collapse. After that the team lost even more confidence. Mentally, psychologically, the team is unbelievably down”.

Southampton’s manager, Ronald Koeman, felt that Mourinho was silly to draw attention to the referee’s refusal to give his team a penalty as the Saints also had a couple of shouts for a spot kick themselves. Branislav Ivanovic appeared to drag Virgil Van Dijk to the floor when both players were trying to get on the end of a corner, then Ramires tripped Mane in the penalty area a few moments later. Mane was also booked for simulation not long after, despite the fact that Ivanovic appeared to sweep his leg out from under him.

During his rant to Sky Sports Mourinho said, “If the Football Association wants to punish me they can. They don’t punish other managers”. It appears that the FA’s decision to take him up on his offer hasn’t gone down too well with the man himself. He said on Thursday, “I’m happy I don’t have an electronic tag. £50,000 is a disgrace. The possibility of getting a stadium ban is astonishing”.

The Blues’ manager also appeared to have another dig at Arsene Wenger, even though he didn’t mention him by name. The Arsenal manager claimed that Mike Dean was ‘weak’ and ‘naive’ after the referee fell for Diego Costa’s tricks during the fiery London derby last month. Mourinho said yesterday, “Afraid costs £50,000. Weak and naive – you can do it”. He also made reference to the fact that Wenger received no punishment for pushing Mourinho in the technical area during a match at Stamford Bridge in 2014, saying, “We can push people in the technical area. We can, no problem”.

Mourinho, speaking to the BBC’s Dan Walker for an interview with Football Focus due to be shown tomorrow, reiterated his thought that the Football Association treated him differently to other manager. He said, “You should analyse what’s happening with me, compare it with other managers. Do you think a word is comparable with a push in the eyes of everyone?
“I can’t say anything because the next time I speak, seriously a stadium ban, then after an electronic tag”.

This is not Mourinho’s first run in with the FA this season. In September he was cleared by the Football Association of making discriminatory remarks against the former Chelsea club doctor Eva Carneiro during the Blues’ opening game of the season against Swansea City. It is also not the first time he has suggested that referees working against Chelsea. Last year he claimed that there was a ‘campaign’ to influence the officials in their decisions during his team’s matches.

This is also not the first fine he has had imposed upon him by the Football Association. Over the duration of his two terms in charge of the London club he has been fined seven times for an amount totalling £181,000.

Despite his club’s tough start to the season in which they have won just two games, drawing two and losing four – with two of their losses coming at home – Mourinho insists he will not quit Stamford Bridge unless he loses the backing of the players. John Terry claimed last week that the players are still very much behind him, even though the London Evening Standard claimed this week that the manager is struggling to stay in control of the dressing room, with numerous players becoming disillusioned with the way in which he’s running the club.

The manager told Dan Walker that the newspaper’s claims are a ‘disgrace’. He said, “What they write is an absolute disgrace. I don’t need to repeat what the players are saying over the international break, they don’t have the obligation to say this. I’d say every player had the chance to go to the press with their national team, but they think about Chelsea, their manager – and I think it’s a disgrace the lengths people go to disturb people working”.

It seems unlikely that the FA will punish Mourinho further for his comments about their decision to fine him and threaten him with a one match stadium ban if he repeated the action. English football’s governing body are not as concerned about criticism of themselves as they are about questions regarding individual match officials’ integrity. Their original decision to punish Mourinho came about because they felt his comments implied ‘bias on the part of a match official’.

Chelsea face Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Saturday with both team’s managers under pressure. If Mourinho were to make another comment about the referee after the match he could find himself in serious pressure with the FA, whilst if his team fails to pick up all three points he could be in even more trouble with Chelsea’s owner Roman Abramovich.

The Football Association have given Jose Mourinho a one match suspended stadium ban and have fined him £50,000 for comments he made about match officials in the wake of Chelsea’s loss to Southampton at Stamford Bridge.

In an astonishing rant to Sky Sports in the aftermath of the 3-1 home loss to Ronald Koeman’s side Mourinho said that referees are ‘afraid’ to give decisions to Chelsea and that the defending Premier League champions were ‘always punished’ because the media leave a ‘question mark’ about them.

The Portuguese manager was upset by referee Robert Madley’s decision not to give his team a penalty when Radamel Falcao was brought down inside the area, despite the fact that Falcao appeared to be going over before he was touched by the onrushing Southampton goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg. Mourinho said, “It was a big penalty for us. Not small, not doubtful. Big. Huge. That was a penalty. We don’t get decisions and I think referees are afraid to give decisions to us. When we are top I understand everyone wants to push you down, but when you are down give us a break”.

Mourinho’s complaint also seemed to ignore the fact that Saints were denied two penalties themselves by Madley, leading Koeman to say in response to his counterpart’s complaints, “In that case it should have finished 2-5”.

Chelsea took the lead early in the match thanks to Willian’s free kick – his third goal direct from a free kick in as many games – before Steven Davis struck an equaliser and Sadio Mane put the Saints in the lead. Graziano Pelle scored an angled finish to guarantee Southampton the win, leaving Chelsea in 16th place in the league table.

Southampton’s two penalty shouts both came in the first half. The initial one came about when Branislav Ivanovic appeared to drag Virgil Van Dijk to the ground whilst defending a set piece. The second solid shout came when Ramires stood on Sadio Mane’s boot in the box, bringing him to the floor. Moments later the referee incorrectly booked Mane for simulation when Ivanovic appeared to swipe his legs away as the forward was on the attack.

The Football Association’s decision to charge the Portuguese manager is based on the notion that his comments ‘imply bias on the part of a match official’. The £50,000 will be payable immediately, but the suspended nature of his stadium ban means that it will only be enforced if he commits the same offence within a year.

Mourinho likely genuinely believes that his team is suffering from refereeing decisions, but he has also been known in the past to distract from his team’s poor performances by shifting the story somewhere else. Given that the loss to Southampton was Chelsea’s fourth loss of the season and their second loss at Stamford Bridge, meaning it’s possible he’s trying the same thing again.

The defending Premier League champion’s next game is against Aston Villa this weekend, with both managers being under extreme pressure given their respective team’s performances so far this season. Tim Sherwood’s Aston Villa team sit in 18th position with just four points to their name, whilst Mourinho’s men have only amassed eight points after eight games, with two wins, two draws and two losses.

Speaking to Sky after the loss Mourinho said of the FA, “If the Football Association wants to punish me they can. They don’t punish other managers”. It seems as though the FA have chosen to take him up on his offer. A Chelsea spokesperson, speaking to the BBC, said that the club wanted to read the FA’s full reasoning before they would make any comment on their verdict and decision to punish the Chelsea manager.

Jose Mourinho has received support from Chelsea defender Gary Cahill in the wake of the club’s terrible start to their Premier League campaign.

The Blues have won just two of their opening eight games of the season, losing four and drawing the remaining two. It is the defending Premier League champion’s worst start to a top flight campaign since the 1978 – 1979 season, when a win was worth just two points.

The poor start led Chelsea’s owner, Roman Abramovich, and the board issuing a statement of support for the Portuguese manager; a statement that Mourinho said he was ‘grateful’ for.

Now Cahill, away on international duty for England, has said that Mourinho also has the backing of the Chelsea squad. He told BBC Radio 5live, “We are all around him. Dare I say he doesn’t even need backing when you have done so much in the game, not just at Chelsea but in other leagues too. It is obviously nice to have that and he certainly has it from the players and the club”.

Cahill was also honest about his own part in the poor start to the season, saying, “The Southampton game for me personally was a real low. I have come away here [on international duty] totally determined to make it right when I get back”.

Chelsea’s campaign will resume after the international break with a game against 18th placed Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge. A game that would normally be considered to be routine has suddenly become a ‘must win’ for Jose Mourinho and his Chelsea team.