Chelsea
manager Jose Mourinho says he is slightly embarrassed by his enduring
popularity with the club's supporters.
The defending Premier League champions are suffering a difficult campaign
and are only 14th in the Premier League table after last weekend's 1-0
defeat at home to Bournemouth.
However, Mourinho has delivered three Premier League titles during his two
spells at Stamford Bridge, and the crowd rose to salute him during
Wednesday's vital 2-0 Champions League win over Porto.
Mourinho said: "The fans are being absolutely unbelievable with us.
"When people are so nice to me and they sing my name and 'Stand up for the
Special One', I feel a bit embarrassed, because I don't know how to react.
When you are champions and winning matches, you wave, you share the emotion
with the people.
"I know for sure Chelsea fans do not have memory problems. Chelsea fans do
not need a special vitamin to feed memory. Their memory is amazing because,
if not, they don't treat me the way they do, they don't treat the players
the way they do, they don't create a nice Stamford Bridge for us."
Mourinho is expecting a repeat of their Porto performance in the big Premier
League clash with Leicester on Monday Night Football.
"The performance on Wednesday in a high-level, pressure match was so good
that I don't see any reason for the players not to have the same kind of
answer," he said.
"Independent of the Bournemouth defeat, I think in the last couple of months
everyone is improving, the team is improving. We are going in a good
direction in terms of the level of individuals and the team consistency. We
need results."
Chelsea are just a point above managerless Swansea in the Premier League,
with the South Wales side dismissing Garry Monk in midweek.
Mourinho thinks the decision was a mistake and lamented the pressure
managers find themselves under in the modern game. "I am always against the
sack," he added.
"I think the end of the season is the moment to change things, when people
analyse the work of the season and believe that the best time is to change.
"The clubs, the owners have the power. It is their decision, what more can I
say, I feel very sorry for him. I feel he did work that impressed last
season, and was showing some great qualities as a manager, so it is a
surprise.
"This is a new tendency in English football. The opinion makers have an
influence, lots of people without ethics are surrounding the houses with
problems, so in in the end Garry was a victim."
Asked if he felt he was lucky to have kept his own job, Mourinho said: "No.
I think my situation is the bad results are not normal, but the situation to
keep the job and to have the chance to improve and to finish the work is to
be normal.
"What is not normal and not fair is what is happening almost every day."
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