Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has revealed he and Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich have a united vision for their project at the club.
Chelsea boss insists he and Ambramovich are joined on project
Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has revealed he and Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich have a united vision for their project at the club.
Billionaire owner Abramovich has been absent from Stamford Bridge for a while following the appointment of the new manager with a high-profile court case to battle with associate Boris Berezovsky.
Villas-Boas made the switch to Chelsea in the summer from FC Porto where he managed to collect four trophies in just one season in charge.
However, despite only winning three games in his last 10 outings as Chelsea boss, Villas-Boas insists the club is moving forward with him and owner Ambramovich sharing the same visision.
"There is great empathy and motivation for next year's project," he said. "At the moment it has been very good, very positive.
"He is a good person to share knowledge with, ask questions and try to give answers regarding what I do. I think it's legitimate, and would compare it to a normal club president/manager relationship."
Trophies
"When we set up with this team, we believed that the team was ready for four trophies.
"We had a transfer window open when we didn't do any market activity, apart from Gary Cahill, so we are confident on playing still to reach the objectives that we have for this season with this team and then eventually move on to what is next year.
"Now we have a Champions League objective. We still play two prestigious trophies."
Former manager Luiz Felipe Scolari was dismissed by Ambramovich amid fears the club would not be able to qualify for the UEFA Champions League before Carlo Ancelotti also departed after a season-ending 1-0 defeat to Everton in May.
However, with only one point holding the London side in the top four ahead of a chasing pack comprising of Newcastle, Arsenal and Liverpool, Chelsea are in a perilous position.
Villas-Boas is adamant he is simply concentrating on the job in hand as he aims to secure European football at Stamford Bridge.
Prestige
"The reality is that in the last years there was a pattern of managers shifting," he added. "In the end, you have to agree that from 2004 Chelsea has been massively successful. It has been the best period of Chelsea's history.
"Hopefully we can progress that within the three-year range with me here."
Villas-Boas takes his side to Goodison Park on Saturday to face Everton but will once again be without captain John Terry, who is suffering from a knee injury.
Despite admitting that Terry is not taking extra time away from training at the club's Cobham base for reasons regarding the England captaincy saga, Villas-Boas believes the armband in England holds more significance than anywhere else.
"The English captaincy has further recognition than captaincy in other countries. It is a position held with much prestige, also under media scrutiny," the 34-year-old said.
"I am not sure if in other countries, at least not in mine, it has this kind of valuable position.
"I think the expectancy on international level depends on the demands the international manager puts on the player."
