Saturday 17 January 2015 10:09, UK
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has reaffirmed his belief referees are placed under too much pressure as he faced the media ahead of Saturday’s game at Swansea.
Mourinho returned to press conference duties after serving a self-imposed ban after comments he made after their 1-1 draw with Southampton on December 28 led to an FA charge, which he confirmed he is appealing against.
He claimed there was a "clear campaign" by "people, pundits, commentators and coaches from other teams" against his Premier League leaders and labelled the yellow card shown to Cesc Fabregas for diving at St Mary's a "scandal".
Mourinho was in more jovial mood ahead of the trip to the Liberty Stadium but maintained “every decision is going against us.”
"Now I am in conditions to control myself and one week ago I couldn't," he said.
"It would have put myself under bigger problems, so now I can smile and control my words."
The Chelsea boss was keen to stress he has no issues with officials themselves and admitted he was happy to apologise for comments made to referee Kevin Friend in relation to a spurned penalty appeal in their FA Cup victory over Watford.
"We're not against the referees," he added. "We understand the job is not an easy one.
"I am happy to admit my mistakes, so when I spoke with Kevin Friend and realised that it was my mistake and not his mistake, I was more than happy to apologise, so there are no problems.
"But the reality is that every decision is going against us and the results were affected by that but far from us - very far from us - to put any doubt about the honesty of the people."
Mourinho also commented on Manchester City’s signing of Swansea striker Wilfried Bony for £28m, complementing the player but taking a sideswipe at City in the progress.
“Well done, well done. He is a good striker and they can spend the money if they have no problems with Financial Fair Play. Well done,” he said.
“They can only play with 11 unless the rules for them are different and they can play with 12.
“It looks like rules are different for them in certain aspects but in this one (players on the pitch), it will be no different.
“If Bony plays and Edin Dzeko is on the bench, I am happy with that.”
When pressed on what aspects of the rules are different for City compared to other clubs, Mourinho would only say, “you know what I mean.”
