‘Showdown’ talks between AVB and Abramovich denied

Chelsea have denied claims in Monday’s press that owner Roman Abramovich held ‘showdown’ talks with manager Andre Villas-Boas prior to Sunday’s thrilling 3-3 draw with Manchester United.

According to the Daily Telegraph, in a rare visit to Chelseas’s Cobham training ground, Abramovich accompanied by key adviser Eugene Shvidler and fellow Chelsea director Eugene Tenenbaum turned up without warning to cast his eye over a training session.

The West London club acknowledged that the Russian Billionaire had indeed spoke to Villas-Boas during the session on Saturday before attending Sunday’s Premier League game at Stamford Bridge.

Despite reports to the contrary, a spokesman insisted that Abramovich remains fully behind the 34-year-old’s long term project: “Roman likes to get down to Cobham and watch training whenever he can.

“He was able to visit on Saturday and he and André had a good chat after the training session, which is normal.”

Abramovich has not visited the state of the art complex he bought in 2004 since embroiling himself in a high-profile court case with former associate Boris Berezovsky.

Whilst awaiting the court judgement, Abramovich decided to take in 35 minutes of Saturday’s training session after which he spent a further 20 minutes speaking with his Portuguese manager.

He also spent half an hour talking to players in the dressing room after yesterday’s game, which saw Chelsea throw away a 3-0 lead.

The match provided just the kind of entertainment Abramovich craves, but he cut a frustrated figure after the games having just seen his side pegged back from another winning position at home.

Chelsea now lie 14 points behind leaders Manchester City but perhaps more importantly, just one ahead of fifth-placed Newcastle.

Villas-Boas has repeatedly fended off dispersions on his long term future at Stamford Bridge, and Abramovich himself appears to be more patient with the current regime, perhaps recognising the need for a significant overhaul before being able to challenge the likes of United and City.

But having sacked almost every manager who has failed to win the title during his nine years as owner, the Russians patience may be tested if Chelsea fail to at least qualify for next seasons Champions League competition.

Posted by MarkG on February 7, 2012. Filed under Chelsea, FA Barclays Premiership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.