http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2011/11/22/2769058/andre-villas-boas-safe-from-the-axe-if-he-secures-automatic

In the upper echelons of Chelsea, all the talk is of one club: Barcelona. How to emulate the most accomplished team of this and perhaps any generation. The peerless brand of football, the relentless winning and the conveyor belt of world-class players.

Roman Abramovich has let it be known that the return he expects on his £800 million investment in Chelsea is an English version of Barcelona.

It is this which guided the dismissal of Carlo Ancelotti 12 months after winning the domestic double and the appointment of Andre Villas-Boas with a clear mandate to make Chelsea more than merely remorseless and efficient.

It is also the Barcelona-inspired approach which provides the Portuguese with greater job security than some of his predecessors.

Although Chelsea’s youthful manager said in the aftermath of his team’s fourth defeat in 12 league games that “there is no calling this year a transition”, there is no expectation at the top of the club for a fourth domestic title of the Abramovich era this term.

Instead, an appreciation exists that building an entertaining and successful team takes time and Villas-Boas will be given it as long as there are signs that the holy grail of the Champions League remains within sight.

“The title is immaterial,” a Chelsea source told Goal.com. “The only real target is third place and definite qualification for the Champions League to provide another opportunity to win the European Cup.

“It doesn’t matter if they are 20 points behind Manchester City. If they finish third everybody goes on holiday happy and they do not have to qualify for the Champions League, so pre-season is unaffected. Fourth is a lot worse than third.

“Villas-Boas needs to show there has been progress while providing entertainment and promise. Otherwise, it’s all about Europe and reaching the later stages of the Champions League. The verdict on the manager will remain open until then.”

discuss

so where are those chelsea fans who have been stressing that there is no CL obsession ?

He should just pull pep out of barcelona & see if that works [which I doubt].

The guy seriously chose the wrong league for that kind of football. He should also use us as an example, firing coaches like candy isn't really productive & certainly won't bring instant success

What am I supposed to be seeing here?

Gil wrote:What am I supposed to be seeing here?

That Chelsea have got no clue of what they're doing lol

Art Morte wrote:

Gil wrote:What am I supposed to be seeing here?

That Chelsea have got no clue of what they're doing lol

And you say this because? And, no, you can't quote a 'Chelsea source' talking to Goal.com We all know how their exclusives end up