Villas-Boas wants vote of confidence

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has suggested that the club’s hierarchy should make it clear that they back his long term vision for the club. According to the Daily Mail.

Villas-Boas has repeatedly fended off dispersions on his long term future at Stamford Bridge and maintains that he has the full backing of owner Roman Abramovich.

The Portuguese manager is growing tired however of mounting speculation that he is on borrowed time by dropping a hint to his employers: “These words would be more valuable coming from the top. I cannot keep saying them.”

Villas-Boas has presided over the club’s least successful period since Russian billionaire Abramovich took control of the club in 2003. The West London outfit have accrued a miserly 3 points from their last 4 league games and have not won since 14 January.

They currently lie fifth in the Premier League, are out of the League Cup and face an FA Cup fifth round replay at St Andrew’s after being held 1-1 by Championship side Birmingham City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Speaking on the day before the Blues Champions League game with Napoli, AVB insists he is in the middle of a three year restructuring process that will “sustain” their long term success.

“In terms of the results this year,” added Villas-Boas. “The speculation is normal given the cultural past of this football club, but you have to understand that there’s a different perspective now.

“We had a three-year project to change not only the team, but the culture and structure of the club.

“There’s a lot we needed to do, a lot of plans. That’s why I’m excited about the future.

“Having said that, we have to build a team to win trophies.

“We’re no longer in the Carling Cup and don’t have a chance to win the title. But we are still confident we can do well in the Champions League and the FA Cup.”

The club’s joint top scorer Daniel Sturridge had insisted earlier in the day that they are not “a divided unit”.

“We are a family and we’ve got a good unit going,” the 22-year-old told Chelsea TV. “Maybe we will see that in the next few games.”

Fellow Blues striker Didier Drogba said: “We feel that no one really believes in us.

“We are going to show we deserve to be here. It’s a top game and we are going to have to get a good result.”

Drogba denied that he gave a half-time “team talk” to Chelsea when they were a goal down in Saturday’s FA Cup tie against Birmingham before coming back to draw.

Cameras picked up footage of Didier Drogba giving a pep talk in the Stamford Bridge tunnel just before the start of the second half.

Drogba’s apparent motivational speech will have done nothing to quell talk of growing rifts between Chelsea players and the manager but the Ivorian said:

“The manager made the speech at half-time. He has leaders in the squad and we are here to help him.

“We wanted to gee the team up at half-time and nothing more.”

Arsenal’s deadlock: Wenger won’t budge, Van Persie won’t stay, The Ox won’t play

The ‘In Arsene We Trust’ banners are finally showing signs of ceasing.

Few managers have enjoyed the kind of die-hard support that the trophy-less for seven years Wenger has enjoyed at the Emirates.

However, not any more it would seem.

A three-way deadlock involving Wenger’s transfer funds, Robin Van Persie and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

After reports emerged that Wenger has £50millon sitting in his transfer kitty, Gunners fans now want to know why he has not spent it.

The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust are demanding answers from club owner Stan Kroenke and the Emirates board, according to a report in The Sun.

Questions raised at a lively AST meeting on Monday night, included why bitter rivals Spurs are so far ahead despite having a 40 per cent lower wage bill.

Arsenal are expected to announce pre-tax profits of about £45m — boosted by the sales of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.

It might be worth noting that having £50millon is one thing – buying the right player is quite another.

Wenger’s buy ‘em young watch ‘em grow policy worked only until he was winning trophies.

Then the young ‘uns upped and left.

Arsene Wenger meanwhile will reportedly refuse to be held to ransom over Robin van Persie.

Arsenal are determined to keep their prize asset this summer even if the Dutchman does not sign a new contract, according to media reports, and talks are underway to offer the striker a mega deal.

Then there is the question of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, an emerging talismanic figure for the Gunners. Wenger has also stated that he will not push the dynamic winger into playing too much, too early, much to chagrin of Arsenal fans.

Gunners boss Wenger ended up selling Samir Nasri to Manchester City for £22m last summer because he only had one year left on his deal and Wenger feared he could end up leaving on a free transfer.

But Arsenal are prepared to take the risk of Van Persie running his current contract into next season before it expires in 2013.

The Arsenal board know selling their captain, talisman and star striker would cause fury among the fans.

Van Persie would be 30 in 2013, is four years older than Nasri and so it will be a different dilemma for Arsenal this summer making it increasingly likely they will take a gamble on his contract situation.

However, Wenger shows no signs of buying an out and out top-ranked player ready to impact Arsenal’s cup fortunes.

Indications already are that all inquiries concern players with great potential – but no established stars.

The latest news on that front is his interest in 21-year old defender, Daniel Opare from Ghana.

At least the good news for Gunners’ fans is Wenger is finally showing interest in shoring up his defence.

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Fergie eyes United post-managerial job

Manchester, United Kingdom – Alex Ferguson believes that he will stay on atManchester United even after he steps down as manager, he said in an interview to be broadcast on Monday.

“I will remain active. I think there will be a role for me at United after I finish,” he told the BBC in an interview, extracts of which were published on the corporation’s website.

Ferguson, now 70, began his managerial career at Old Trafford in 1986 and has won an array of honours, including 12 Premier League titles, two European cups and five FA cups.

He had been due to retire at the end of the 2001-2002 season but changed his mind.

He said in the interview that he could feasibly continue for two or three more seasons, depending on his health.

One possible role he could fulfil at the current Premier League champions after stepping down is as a club ambassador, he added. – Sapa-AFP

Poll of the day: Should Fernando Torres start for Chelsea against Napoli?

Chelsea striker Fernando Torres last week revealed that he ‘expected things to be better’ after failing to find his form since joining the Blues for £50 million over a year ago

The Spaniard netted 24 times in his first campaign with former club Liverpool and went on to become a favourite with the Anfield crowd, but after his record move to London in January 2011 the 27-year-old has not looked half the player.

He told ESPN: ”To be honest, after one year I was expecting things would be better than they are now.”

In his 34 appearances since his transfer to Stamford Bridge, the former Atletico Madrid man has scored just three times in the Premier League. In the Champions League, Torres has featured nine times for the Blues and only contributed with two goals.

And the Spain international admitted he just cannot score: “Personally I have to improve.

“In my time at Liverpool there were games where I would not be playing well or I would be doing nothing but every time I touched the ball I scored.

“It’s such a strange feeling now because I am feeling better than ever physically. I am not finding the chances and, when I do find the chances, I cannot score.”

The west London club face a tough first-leg tie away at Napoli on Tuesday and Andre Villas-Boas will need to think carefully when selecting his squad.

The Italian side have plenty of quality going forward so the Portuguese might sacrifice a frontman of his own and go with a more defensive team to set up the return game at Stamford Bridge.

Sir Alex Ferguson wants to stay at Manchester United after retiring

Sir Alex Ferguson believes there will be a role for him at Manchester Unitedwhen he retires as first-team manager.

The Scot, 70, wants another “two or three years” in the top job at Old Trafford.

Then he says he would like to be employed at the club, potentially in an ambassadorial role similar to the one Sir Bobby Charlton has.

Ferguson told BBC Radio 5 live: “I will remain active. I think there will be a role for me at United after I finish.”

Under Ferguson’s guidance, Manchester United have grown to become one of the most decorated club sides in the world, winning 12 domestic league titles and two European Cups.

One of those Premier League titles came in the 2001-02 campaign, at the end of which Ferguson was due to retire.

He had a change of heart and seems to have been inspired to build the next great United side by the rise to prominence of Manchester City, whom he memorably described as “noisy neighbours.”

“I think you always want to go out on a winning note,” said Ferguson.

“Hopefully we can do that. I don’t know how long I can last now but if my health stays up I don’t think another two or three years would harm me.”

He also says his wife is keen for him to remain active and has even suggested he becomes a milkman when he steps down as Manchester United manager.

There has been constant speculation about who will succeed Ferguson, with a string of former players linked with the job at various times.

Ferguson himself is a long-time admirer of Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho and believes the Portuguese would get more ‘freedom’ to do the job in England than he gets in Spain.

Mourinho was hugely successful at Chelsea and in December spoke of his desire to return to management in the Premier League .

Wenger focuses on salvaging something from wreckage

SUNDERLAND: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger urged his players to fight on and salvage something from the season after their hopes of ending a seven-year trophy drought were effectively wrecked by FA Cup elimination on Saturday.

Needing to overturn a 4-0 deficit in their Champions League last-16 tie against AC Milan and trailing Premier League leaders Manchester City by 17 points, their campaign is all but over but the Frenchman refused to write it off altogether.

“We have to take the critics on board and stay together and face the critics. There is only one response … to stay united and fight and focus on the next game,” Wenger told a news conference after a 2-0 FA Cup fifth-round defeat at Sunderland.

“Let’s focus on our next game to finish well in the championship and fight as well – even if it’s a small possibility – in the Champions League.”

Wenger had described the heavy midweek defeat in Milan as their “worst performance in Europe” and there was little sign of improvement on Saturday.

While the manager praised his players for a “committed performance”, neutrals will have seen a disjointed showing at the Stadium of Light with little attacking flair and a shaky defence.

The FA Cup was the last realistic chance of silverware for the north London club whose most recent addition to the trophy cabinet was from the 2005 edition of the competition.

Defeat owed as much to Arsenal’s weaknesses as Sunderland’s determination, with Gunners defender Johan Djourou giving away the free kick that led to Kieran Richardson’s opener and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain then scoring at the wrong end.

DRAMATIC SLUMP

It came almost a year after the shock defeat by Birmingham City in the League Cup final which triggered a dramatic slump in form that Wenger has yet to reverse.

At the helm since 1996, he is still not under the same kind of pressure from fans and media that Chelsea’s Andre Villas-Boas is grappling with after a similarly underwhelming season but he is nevertheless under scrutiny.

Asked where the Sunderland defeat left Arsenal, Wenger replied: “It’s too early to say”.

Responding to a query over whether his club were in crisis, he said: “It depends what you call a crisis. I feel every time we lose a game we have a crisis. Our job is about winning and playing well”.

Arsenal’s season has not been helped by a string of injuries to key players and the treatment room filled up again on Saturday with Aaron Ramsey, Sebastien Squillaci and Francis Coquelin picking up knocks.

It left Wenger concerned about numbers before next weekend’s north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur who are rubbing salt into the wounds of their bitter rivals by enjoying one of their best seasons in years.

“We have a big game next Sunday,” Wenger said. “We lost three players again today and we are starting to get very short.”