AVB: My Blues have hit new low

zocoss SG

Calm down: Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas during Sunday's draw with Manchester United

Andre Villas-Boas is fighting to convince Roman Abramovich he is still the man for the Chelsea job after an amazing showdown on Saturday.

Sportsmail can reveal that Villas-Boas was locked in talks with Abramovich at Chelsea's training ground on Saturday.

Abramovich turned up without any warning to watch them train before Sunday's 3-3 draw with Manchester United, when Villas-Boas's side threw away a 3-0 lead.

The Russian billionaire, flanked by key adviser Eugene Shvidler and fellow Chelsea director Eugene Tenenbaum, arrived at the training ground in Cobham before the start of training and the players were stunned when Abramovich walked out to watch Villas-Boas's session.

He saw 35 minutes of training before spending another half an hour with Villas-Boas demanding to know tactics for the game against United.

After watching Chelsea draw he went into the dressing room and spent about half an hour talking to the players.

Watchful eye: Roman Abramovich (right) at Cobham with Villas-Boas on Saturday

The club's billionaire backer has become increasingly frustrated with the team's lack of progress this season and was determined to see at first hand the work of his young Portuguese manager.

Villas-Boas has been struggling to command the respect of the players in his first season at the club.

The squad were given no notice that Abramovich, who has not been seen at the training ground for months, would arrive to watch them prepare for the United game.

Abramovich spent four hours assessing the mood at the club. He rarely visits the site he bought to create the perfect environment for Chelsea's expensively assembled team.

Blown it: Chelsea threw away a three-goal led to draw with United

Abramovich did attend the training ground before becoming involved in a high-profile court case with former associate Boris Berezovsky.

According to club sources he was pre-occupied with the case but has turned his attention to Chelsea while awaiting the court judgement.

Villas-Boas has always maintained that he has the full support of Abramovich but he has been left in no doubt about the demands of being Chelsea manager.

Making a point: Villas-Boas (right) must convince Abramovich of his worth

Some players believe dressing-room morale has been fractured beyond repair under Villas-Boas. That is a theory Abramovich put to the test on Saturday and Villas-Boas is understood to have been left shaken by the visit.

Carlo Ancelotti operated under similar circumstances when he was Chelsea manager and told friends life became 'intolerable' because of the pressure on him from above.

dragg SG

its time for hiddink.

Jacky Woo SG

yes. Hiddink is a safe choice. he is a winner.

charlize SG

I think he is just hoping to finish the season with more wins than losses only.

Eelyn82 SG

Yeah,tink AVB should just look for a new job back on the European continent.If you even offered him a chance to manage in Denmark or Sweden,he would jump at it in order to get away from RA.

Next up is Guus Hiddink.

dragg SG

i feel he is over-rated.

even in transition there is no reason for chelsea to play so badly.

under AVB chelsea cant even beat teams at the bottom half. stamford bridge no longer a fortress.

charlize SG

i feel he is over-rated.

even in transition there is no reason for chelsea to play so badly.

under AVB chelsea cant even beat teams at the bottom half. stamford bridge no longer a fortress.

They think only good managers come from Porto.

Just_do_it_lah SG

They think only good managers come from Porto.

Yeah... The Special One......

Maybe this happened @ Stamford Bridge before he left......

Manager vs Owner...

PaulYoung SG

Honestly I think only Jose Mourinho has had the character to handle such a big team. And he has got medals to prove it. That's all that matters at the end of the day for the big leagues. Perhaps they should get him back again. Roman has been more than patient with Chelsea's decline and I think its in a dire state now.

Jacky Woo SG

he is still a young manager at 34 this year 35.

he is no mourinho, but he is up and coming young manager, even if he is sacked by chelsea. he will learn from his chelsea stint.

zocoss SG

Training day: Andre Villas-Boas and Roman Abramovich are all smiles at Cobham

Roman Abramovich has warned Andre Villas-Boas that a fourth-placed finish in the Barclays Premier League will not be good enough.

Abramovich stood on the training ground on Thursday to watch Villas-Boas at work for the fourth successive day. Chelsea’s billionaire benefactor wore an orange and black coach’s jacket as Villas-Boas prepared the team for Saturday's trip to Everton.

Abramovich has spent five of the last six days on the shoulders of the young manager, monitoring his relationship with the squad.

Chelsea are fourth in the table, seven points behind third-placed Tottenham and 14 behind leaders Manchester City, but are still in the Champions League and FA Cup.

Villas-Boas, 34, said: 'Finishing fourth will not be honourable for a club of Chelsea’s size. Given their success, the owner has made it known. He is used to the club finishing first or being runners-up.

'The reality is that in the last few years there has been a pattern of managers shifting at this club. I’m not saying they paid with their jobs.

It was because Roman decided that they should. End of story.

'When we set up at the start of the season, we believed that the team was ready for four trophies. At the moment, we have a Champions League objective because the Premier League objective is not possible.'

Setting targets: Villas-Boas is under little illusion as to the tasks facing him

Abramovich has held a series of meetings with Villas-Boas and the coaching staff since he unexpectedly turned up at training last Saturday. The Russian watched preparations for Sunday’s clash with Manchester United before asking Villas-Boas for his tactics for the game.

He said: 'He knows a lot, he is very informed. He follows English and European football, so it’s good to have an opinion.

'As for turning up, I don’t always know - sometimes yes, sometimes no. It is legitimate for him to be there. He is a good person to share knowledge with. He asks me questions and I try to give him answers. There is great empathy and motivation for next year’s project. His focus is with Chelsea, that is what he has transmitted to me.'

charlize SG

Winning just one or two titles does not make any coach special.

Unless he took papau new guinea to win the world cup.

Then that one achievement is enough.

dragg SG

4th now good enough. chelsea for sure wont finished higher than 4th.

so RA expecting a FA or CL win?

i just dont see this chelsea winning the CL.

so chelsea can only hope to finish 4th and winning the FA cup.

dragg SG

lost again!!

chelsea probably cant finish 4th at the rate they're playing.

Medicated Oil SG

I guess the players want the Special one back on the bridge.

So, they have to sabo their present boss.

RA should keep his nose out of the bridge.

The more he interferred, the more mess he created.

It was his idea to buy Torres.

Jacky Woo SG

AVB is going to be sacked, just a matter of when only. I cant see him survive beyond March. I was surprised he is still around in February, from the manner roman sacked past chelsea managers.

either guus hiddink or fabio capello will take over, as they are free at the moment.

zocoss SG

AVB gone case already... But to be fair he also got a very tough job where all the once great players are in their twilight of their careers therefore it's a bad time to be the chelsea boss.

The next guy will have a better time i belief. But i think he may find it a little difficult as well as the next guy may not be able to spend like in the past i think. Roman got the money but the fair play rules into its first year will expect chelsea to keep their losses to under $39m pounds each season. Chelsea's last season's accounts post a $66m lost.

So unless they start to think outside the box on how to increase revenue legally like City... lol. They are in for some unstable times... And what if they fail to qualify for the CL? Will it make Roman give up on them totally with the fair-play rules he has to think of ways to get around? So troublesome, just throw in the towel?

dragg SG

its time to give younger players a chance and get rid of those half baked ones.

Jacky Woo SG

my guess is hiddink will be given the job permanently.

Medicated Oil SG

Maybe AVB signed a contract that required RA to pay him if he is being dismissed.

RA is aso aware that AVB and Torres are his choice.

If he remove them, he is admitting that he is making a mistake.