Defiant Villas-Boas insists his job is safe
Published 22:30 20/11/11 By Martin Lipton
Defiant Andre Villas-Boas predicted he would not be sacked by Roman Abramovich – despite steering the Blues to their worst league start since the Russian bought the club.
Glen Johnson’s late winner consigned Chelsea to their third defeat in four games, leaving them 12 points adrift of leaders Manchester City.
But despite the increasing pressure, Villas-Boas insisted Abramovich would not waste money on another pay-out just months after recruiting him from Porto. “I think it’s not a question of the owner having a question of the owner having patience. We have set out to build something new and the club is committed to taking what we’re building to the future,” he said.
“The owner didn’t pay £15million to get me out of Porto to then pay another fortune to get me out [of Chelsea].”
Johnson’s strike came after substitute Daniel Sturridge looked to have salvaged a point for the Blues when he cancelled out Maxi Rodriguez’s first-half opener.
Villas-Boas added: “The situation in the league is not good for us.
“It’s not impossible to turn it around, it’s not the brightest of starts for Chelsea in the Premier League in the last 10 years, but the belief is there.
“It doesn’t look good being 12 points behind the leaders, but the December fixtures give us hope if we’re able to make the most of it.”
Reds boss Kenny Dalglish (above) was thrilled with a victory that made it nine games unbeaten and took the Merseysiders level on points with Chelsea.
“I thought we played really well in the first half. They played better in the second half, put us under pressure.
“But the players hung on in there and the result matched our ambitions. It was a fantastic performance.”
