Mourinho in suspense
Jose Mourinho
enters the
international break
with his future as
Chelsea manager
under closer
scrutiny than ever
before following his team's 1-0 defeat at Stoke
City.
The outspoken Portuguese was not even
present at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday as
he served a one-match stadium ban for his
verbal onslaught on match officials during the
recent defeat at West Ham United.
But as he watched Chelsea's attempts to find
an equaliser fizzle out on television at the team
hotel, he will have known that two weeks of
intense speculation and analysis now await him.
It is the first time in 16 years that Chelsea have
lost three consecutive league games and
billionaire owner Roman Abramovich has never
seen such a sequence in his time as owner of
the London club.
The three coaches who stood in for Mourinho —
Steve Holland, Silvino Louro and Rui Faria —
declined to speak to the media after the game,
which left the champions in 16th place after
seven defeats in 12 games.
But goalkeeper Asmir Begovic insisted that the
club's players remain firmly behind the 52-year-
old Portuguese, as do the supporters who
chanted his name throughout the game.
"That is out of our hands. We are behind the
manager. You can see that from our
performances," said Begovic when asked about
the manager's future.
"We think he is the right man and someone we
work hard for.
"Jose did the pre-match talk at the hotel and
that was it. We wanted to get a result for him.
His spirit and his presence is always there."
Mourinho's opposite number Mark Hughes,
whose team knocked Chelsea out of the League
Cup in a penalty shoot-out last week, admitted
that overseeing a game against a dug-out
without a manager was a first for him.
"It's difficult to say whether it made a
difference," said Hughes. "But it's a rare
occurrence when the opposition manager isn't
standing there. I've not experienced it before."
- 'Tries to bully you' -
He added: "Most of your work is done at half-
time. Sometimes you can affect it in the correct
manner. It's dependent on the manager. A
manager like Jose, yes, they would have missed
him, giving him credit for his standing.
"They're going through a surprising period for
them, but not for anybody else. I read words
from Jose this week saying maybe the top
teams will lose more games this season.
"The middle group of teams in the Premier
League are a challenge for the top teams this
year and I have to agree."
Hughes also praised Chelsea substitute Loic
Remy, who chose not to go down in search of a
penalty despite Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland
hurling himself at his feet late in the game.
"Credit to Remy at the end, he didn't look for a
penalty," said the Welshman.
"Time and time again you see Premier League
players leaving a leg behind them just to get
contact, but he didn't do that.
"He hurdled Jack and looked to score a goal
when he could have been more cynical and
looked for a penalty."
Mourinho was given a further headache after
the game when it emerged that a Stoke steward
had accused Chelsea striker Diego Costa of
deliberately treading on his foot as he looked to
retrieve the ball for a throw-in.
Costa was involved in a running battle with
Ryan Shawcross throughout the game, but the
Stoke skipper said he relished the tussle.
"Diego Costa is a great striker and is always
going to give you a challenge," Shawcross said.
"It's brilliant for me to play against a player like
that. It's the kind of match I like.
"He's old school, in your face and tries to bully
you. He's always on the line, but to keep him
quiet is a great performance from all of us. You
have to stand up and be tough to beat
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