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Chelsea lost on Saturday, falling 3-1 to Southampton at Stamford Bridge. The loss leaves the defending Premier League champions flirting with the relegation zone eight matches into the season, sitting in 16th place and just four points clear of 18th. The loss was the second home loss of the season for Chelsea, something that had only happenedonce to a Jose Mourinho lead Chelsea side before. The fans are frustrated, the players are frustrated, and frankly, Mourinho himself sounds livid.
Mourinho: 'This is a crucial moment in the history of this club. Because if the club sacks me they sack the best manager this club had.
— Duncan Castles (@DuncanCastles) October 3, 2015
Mourinho: 'Second the message is again the message of bad results the manager is guilty. This is the message these players got for a decade.
— Duncan Castles (@DuncanCastles) October 3, 2015
That's a not-so-subtle reference to Roman Abramovich's tendency to run through managers during his career, sacking them for any poor run of form no matter the situation or how the players involved in that form may have been at fault.
Mourinho wasn't done poking at his players and his boss, though.
Mourinho: 'I assume my responsibilities, I think the players should assume their responsibilities.
— Duncan Castles (@DuncanCastles) October 3, 2015
Mourinho: '...And there are other people in the club who should also assume their responsibilities.' #CFC
— Duncan Castles (@DuncanCastles) October 3, 2015
Translation: "My players are playing like crap, so this isn't all on me. Oh and Abramovich? This is on you too." Frankly, it sounds like Mourinho is fed up. The media is blaming him non-stop, the players seem to be blaming him based on dressing room "leaks," and the whole thing is probably getting to be pretty untenable for a manager of Mourinho's history, successes, and, let's be honest, ego. He's not saying that none of this situation is his fault by any means, he just wants the finger of blame spread around appropriately. That's pretty understandable.
Still, this is a situation that looks like it's about to hit the boiling point. It may not be long before we see the Mourinho-Abramovich relationship at Chelsea splinter and shatter at the rate things are going, especially if results on the pitch keep going like they have been. Given that Mourinho started that little rant off by saying that if the club wants him gone, they'd have to sack him because he's "not running away," this could get real ugly, real quick.