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Jose Mourinho used his press conference after Chelsea beat West Bromwich Albion 3-2 at The Hawthorns to claim that people ‘love’ to see his club lose matches.

Speaking to BBC Sport Mourinho, who looked somewhat gaunt and spoke in a weakened voice, said after the match, “Many people are disappointed with this result. They love Chelsea to lose a game”.

The Chelsea manager was responding to questions about John Terry’s red card, shown to him after he appeared to drag Salomon Rondon back when the West Brom forward was through on goal. The Portuguese boss said, “I prefer to have no views and try to keep quiet”.

The comments from the self-proclaimed Special One seem to hint at a belief that there is a conspiracy against Chelsea going on behind the scenes. The Chelsea boss confirmed as much when he refused to pursue an appeal against the red card, stating, “I think we should but normally it’s a waste of time. It’s a ball into the space behind the full-back, the full-back is pressing high, the striker makes the movement and then Mr Clattenburg decides it’s a red card”.

If Mourinho failed to understand that footballing rivalry means there will always be people who are happy when other teams lose, he was somewhat more sanguine when it came to Pedro’s debut for the club. He said, “Pedro played well. We know he is a good player, more than good. There are lots of top players who come to the Premier League and it takes time to adapt but it looks like he has been with us for a long time because straight away he was in the game and he was important”.

Continuing his theme of suggesting there was some sort of conspiracy against Chelsea, the Portuguese manager said of Chelsea’s first win of the season, “The performance was not dramatic, and not bad but obviously four points in three matches is not enough. There is a feeling we are fighting against a lot but today we won”.

This is the first time in 17 years that Chelsea have failed to win either of the first two opening games and Mourinho knows that they will need to pick up their form if they hope to become the first team since Manchester United in 2008-2009 to win back to back Premier League titles.

Chelsea Football Club today confirmed the signing of Spanish forward Pedro Rodriguez from Barcelona for a fee of £21 million.

The club confirmed earlier today that the 28 year old Spanish international has agreed a 4 year deal to play at Stamford Bridge under the tutelage of Jose Mourinho. He said, “I am very happy to be here. I am very excited to start my adventure at Chelsea and I am here to keep winning titles. Thanks to the club and the supporters for giving me the opportunity to put the blue shirt on”.

Pedro is a product of the Catalan club’s revered academy system, making 321 appearances for Barcelona and scoring 99 times during his time there. He was a target for Manchester United, the club he scored a goal against in the 2011 Champion’s League final when the Spanish club beat the English team by 3 goals to 1. However he stalled on a move to Louis Van Gaal’s team in the hopes that a club more likely to win major honours would come in for him and got his wish when Mourinho showed an interest.

Pedro made 50 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona last season, helping the club to win a La Liga, Copa Del Rey and Champion’s League treble. He has previously won the European Cup 3 times with Barca as well as La Liga 5 times; he was also part of the Spanish side that won the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championship in 2012.

Stats wise, Pedro matches up with the best of them. Since the 2009 – 2010 season only Lionel Messi has been involved in more league goals than Pedro. Messi has either scored or assisted in the scoring of 317 goals during that period, whilst Pedro has netted 58 goals and got 35 assists during the same amount of time. The fact that Messi was involved in 317 goals and Pedro in 93 shows the gulf in class between the players, but 93 is nothing to be sniffed at.

Pedro will be a welcome addition to Jose Mourinho’s squad, offering a more viable alternative than Radamel Falcao during any periods of injury that Diego Costa is likely to suffer. He will also offer competition to the likes of Hazard, Willian and Oscar in the more creative part of the Blues’ team.

Jose Mourinho has defended his decision to substitute John Terry at half time of Chelsea’s game against Manchester City at The Etihad this weekend; a game that the Londoners went on to lose 3-0.

34 year old Terry, the Chelsea club captain, has not been substituted in the previous 176 games he played under Jose Mourinho’s management. Yet he was replaced by youngster Kurt Zouma at the interval with the team having been outplayed by the hosts and finding themselves 1-0 down.

After the match Mourinho confirmed that Terry was not removed from the action due to an injury, but rather because of a tactical decision by the manager. He said, “It was clear to me Zouma has to play”. Mourinho felt that City were dominating in Chelsea’s half and that he had to bring on his fastest player in order to play the high line he wanted to play to keep the Manchester team away from his team’s final third.

Mourinho was somewhat prickly in the aftermath of the game, suggesting to journalists that he wasn’t the manager they should be questioning about Terry’s removal. In what was a bizarre and slight non-sequitur of a reply the Chelsea manager said, “I don’t know if you asked questions to Rafa Benitez, Andre Villas-Boas, Roberto Di Matteo, to the ones that never played him. I’m the one you shouldn’t ask because I’m the one that plays with John in every game. I made John captain. I recovered John from a difficult situation with other managers”.

Yet Benitez did comment on John Terry when he was Chelsea manager, saying, “With his age, he has more experience and his understanding of the game will be better but you have people coming that will be faster and they will be stronger. But still he has a lot of ability and he can do well. But it will not be two games a week, carrying on playing, because [he has] more competition”. Owing to his long-term animosity towards Benitez it is no surprise that Mourinho has not acknowledged the Spaniard’s foresight regarding Terry. He might also point to the fact that the ex-England player played in every game of Chelsea’s title winning campaign last year.

Yet his removal of the captain in a game that Chelsea were being dominated in suggests that the self-proclaimed Special One feels the centre back may no longer be able to handle the pressure of what is an intense league.

Coming just a week after he made a scapegoat out of his doctor when the team struggled to get a result against Swansea at home, some feel that this is yet another distraction tactic from a manager who specialises in just that. In The Irish Independent the journalist Chris Bascombe wrote of the manager’s decision to remove Terry that, “it smacked of sending a message to his board about the urgent need for reinforcements”.

In the aftermath of a 3-0 loss away to Manchester City Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea have brought in a defensive reinforcement in the form of Baba Rahman.

The 21 year old Ghanaian international has signed for the Premier League’s defending champions from FC Augsburg in a deal rumoured to be worth around £21.7 million.

The Londoners have been linked with a move for a left back after allowing Filipe Luis to head back to Atletico Madrid earlier this summer and with Mourinho hoping for some competition for Cesar Azpilicueta.

On the official Chelsea website Rahman is described as “a pacy and attacking full-back who can also operate as a midfielder or winger”, and the player himself is quoted as saying, “I am very happy to sign for Chelsea, one of the biggest clubs in the world, and I can’t wait to train with my new team-mates and very much looking forward to working with them and Mr. Mourinho. I am also looking forward to having the opportunity to meet the fans as soon as possible”.

Rahman made 31 appearances for Augsburg last season, making more successful tackles than any other player in the Bundesliga last season. He also attempted more crosses than any other player from the left back position. He helped Augsburg qualify for the Europa League and will be a welcome addition to a Chelsea defence that is starting to look a little old and ragged.

Southampton have signed Chelsea midfielder Oriol Romeu on a 3 year contract for £5 million.

Romeu only made 34 appearances for the Blues after signing from Barcelona in 2011, spending the last two season on loan at Stuttgart and then Valencia.

The Southampton executive director of football, Les Reed, said that Romeu was exactly the sort of player that fitted the Saints’ profile in that he is “young, hungry and developed at a top academy”, and that he had “been on the radar” of the club for some time.

Reed continued, “Like Ryan Bertrand, we believe we have recruited another Chelsea player with an excellent pedigree but also with lots of potential to develop”.

The player himself said, “After spending two years on loan, I needed something permanent and a club with a future – and I think I chose the right one”.

Romeu becomes Southampton’s 7th signing of the summer, following the likes of Juanmi, Cedric Soares, Jordy Clasie and Steven Caulker to St. Mary’s.

Everton manager Roberto Martinez has dented Chelsea’s hopes of signing their defender John Stones, saying, “The player is not for sale and that is the end of it”.

Martinez has been critical of Chelsea’s attempts to sign the youngster, even going so far as to claim their approaches have been “illegal”. That hasn’t stopped the London club, though, with a 3rd bid expected in the coming days after their 2nd attempt, a bid of £26 million, failed to impress Bill Kenwright.

Stones made 23 appearances for Everton last season and signed a new 5 year contract in August, meaning Everton are in a position of strength when it comes to negotiating his sale. Martinez said, “Our situation has been very clear from the beginning. We are not a selling club who will lose our best performers”.

The fact that Everton announced the purchase of Mason Holgate from Barnsley – the same club they signed Stones from – on Thursday has got nothing to do with Stones’ situation, according to Martinez. The Spaniard said, “He [Holgate] will be a phenomenal young prospect coming into that golden generation we feel we have at the club and he will be a good one for the future”.

Jose Mourinho has come under fire from several quarters for his treatment of Chelsea’s club doctor Eva Carneiro after it emerged that she will no longer sit on Chelsea’s bench during games.

The Daily Telegraph revealed earlier in the week that Carneiro will continue to treat Chelsea’s first team players at Cobham training ground, but will no longer attend the club’s matches or training sessions

This has all come about since Carneiro ran on to the pitch to treat Eden Hazard during Chelsea’s game against Swansea on the opening day of the season at Stamford Bridge. Premier League rules say that a player who receives treatment must leave the pitch and Chelsea were already down to 10 men after their goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, was sent off for a tackle on Bafetimbi Gomis after 53 minutes of the match.

Mourinho called his medical staff “impulsive” and “naïve” for running on to the pitch to treat Hazard, despite the fact that referee Michael Oliver had called for them twice before Carneiro ran on to deal with the situation. Mourinho said, “Whether you are a kit man, doctor or secretary on the bench you have to understand the game”. FIFA’s own instruction on the matter states, “Referees must follow the instructions below when dealing with injured players: As soon as the referee has authorised the doctors to enter the field of play, the player must leave the field of play, either on a stretcher or on foot. If a player does not comply, he shall be cautioned for unsporting behaviour”. That means that it is, in fact, Mourinho who does not understand the game.

The treatment of Carneiro by the Chelsea manager has led to criticism of his behaviour from numerous sources, including The Premier League Doctor’s Group who said, “[We] consider… that removing Dr Eva Carneiro from the Chelsea team bench for their next match is unjust in the extreme. In the publicised incident in last Saturday’s game against Swansea, the Chelsea medical staff were clearly summoned on to the field of play by the match referee to attend to a player. A refusal to run onto the pitch would have breached the duty of care required of the medical team to their patient”.

The PLDG statement continued, “It is a huge concern that Dr Carneiro has been subjected to unprecedented media scrutiny and a change in her professional role, merely because she adhered to her code of professional conduct and did her job properly. Dr. Carneiro has universal and total support from her medical colleagues at the Premier League Doctors Group. It is also of great concern that at a time when the both the Premier League and the Premier League Doctors group are intensifying efforts to safeguard player welfare, the precedent set by this incident demonstrates that the medical care of players appears to be secondary to the result of the game”.

Meanwhile Liverpool’s former Head of Medicine, Dr. Peter Brukner, told BBC Radio 5 live that Mourinho’s criticism of Carneiro was “100%” and that he should publicly apologise. Brukner is now the Australian Cricket Team’s doctor and said, “It’s got nothing to do with the manager. You don’t have doctors telling a manager to play someone up front or play 4-3-3. The doctor was 100% correct and the manager, in my opinion, was 100% wrong. He should apologise and the club should ensure that the doctor and physio are not demoted as a result of this.
“She has been publicly humiliated in front of the biggest audience there is and she had not done the wrong thing”.

Ralph Rodgers, the Chelsea first team doctor under Carlo Ancelotti, has said that Carneiro was wrong to put a post on social media about the incident, though, and that it represented a “slap in the face” of Jose Mourinho and something that would make things “difficult” for him to trust her again. Carneiro made a somewhat innocuous post on Facebook when she said, “I would like to thank the general public for their overwhelming support. Really very much appreciated”.

<Rodgers, however, felt that the statement was not ethical, saying, “You are support staff. You’re not one of the stars. There’s almost a slap in the face to the manager. Why would she go to social media? It’s something we, as a profession, ethically should not be doing”.

Mourinho is expected to be questioned about the matter in his press conference ahead of Chelsea’s visit to The Etihad Stadium on Sunday, meaning that the matter isn’t likely to die away any time soon.

Chelsea have decided to lodge an appeal with the FA against the red card shown to goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the match against Swansea this weekend.

Chelsea were leading 2-1 seven minutes into the second half when Jonjo Shelvey’s through ball sent Bafetimbi Gomis clear of the Chelsea defence. Courtois came running off his line and fouled the striker on the edge of the Blues’ penalty area, with Michael Oliver adjudging it to be inside the box and deciding that the stopper had denied the forward a goal scoring opportunity.

Jose Mourinho refused to discuss the decision to send off his Belgian ‘keeper after the match but his counterpart Gary Monk, the Swans manager, said, “It is a goal scoring opportunity. The letter of the law is that it is a red card and we got what we deserved today”.

Mourinho’s fury at the refereeing performance of Michael Oliver has led to the club’s decision to appeal the red card, with the FA expected to hear their logic today. If their appeal fails, as most assume, then Courtois will be given a one game ban and will miss Chelsea’s trip to last season’s runners up Manchester City on Sunday.

Chelsea only made two significant signings this summer, with Radamel Falcao coming in as cover for Diego Costa and Asmir Begovic arriving as a back up goalkeeper for Thibaut Courtois. The Bosnian, who was bought from Stoke for a fee believed to be in the region of £8 million, didn’t expect to get his chance to shine so soon after his arrival. Mourinho has faith in him, though, saying that their former stopper, Petr Cech, isn’t missed by the club. He said, “We don’t miss Petr. We’ve got a good keeper, the problem with Petr is not that we miss him because we have two excellent ‘keepers. The problem with Petr is that an opponent is better than before. Thibaut and Asmir are two fantastic keepers. My club did very well by getting a goalkeeper on time and not on the August 31st“.

Mourinho signed a new 4 year deal at Stamford Bridge last week and wants to stay with the club precisely because he has such control over their dealings. The new contract will keep the 52 year old at the club until 2019, unless he falls out with Chelsea’s owner Roman Abramovich before the contract runs its course as he did last time around.

That Mourinho has chosen to throw his newly rewarded managerial weight behind a decision to appeal a red card that looked to be a solid decision is an odd one, especially given it’s so early in the season. It also suggests to Manchester City that he hasn’t got complete faith in Begovic, despite his words. We’ll find out later today what the FA have decided.