Jose: I'm great and I'll never walk away

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Feeling good: Mourinho touches his face during the press conference today

Suits, not boots: Arsenal stars (from left) Aliadiere, Walcott, Gilberto, Fabregas and Toure with their outfits for the Carling Cup final

Jose Mourinho has put his future entirely in the hands of Roman Abramovich after declaring that only if he is sacked' will he leave Chelsea at the end of this season.

If he really does want to stay, the Chelsea manager played something of a masterstroke at the club's training ground on Friday, promising his players and the supporters that he will "never walk away".

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"I owe it to them," he said in typically melodramatic fashion. Judging by Mourinho's latest performance, it is difficult to see how he can now go back on his word and storm out of Stamford Bridge in a blaze of controversy.

"There are normally three ways for a manager to leave a club," he said. "Walk away, be sacked, or finish his contract. My contract finishes in 2010 and if they do not give me a new one then I have to go.

"But walk away? No chance. Zero. Zero. I don't go to another club by my decision to walk away. Zero per cent. I would never do this to Chelsea, I would never do this to my players and I would never do this to the Chelsea supporters. So no chance.

"So when one of the three possibilities is out, there remain two possibilities. We go to 2010 and I finish my contract, or the club is not happy with my work and they decide to sack me."

The questions were as forthright as the answers were candid. Did he not walk out on Porto in 2004? "I didn't resign at Porto," he said. "I wanted to leave to come to Chelsea. Chelsea agreed with Porto an amount for my freedom. Chelsea paid the amount and I come."

And he had twice considered quitting last season? "Yes, but it is over. Things have moved on," he said. "We have just lived through one of our most difficult periods.

"We lose, we lose, we draw, we draw. And there was talk of me leaving and problems. And in that time I have never felt more support than I got from my players, my supporters.

"The love I felt around me. The people wanted me to stay. I never felt something like that. So it is impossible to think a different way now. I owe them. I owe them. So my decision is completely made.

"I say for a long time that this is the best football country. Not because of four English teams in the Champions League and the possibility of three or four English teams in the quarter-finals and good performances in the UEFA Cup. For everything. Stadiums full, crowd, atmosphere, lovely press."

That comment was followed by a wry smile and another curve ball of a question. So he would consider working for another English club? "That would be a problem because of my love for the Chelsea fans," he said.

"You can never say never but my future is in Chelsea. I am already preparing the next season. I am preparing all the pre-season. The pre-season is done. There is only one space for a game. Everything is done. When we start. Where we go. Who we play. Matches in the States. Matches in Europe. We have everything. The Charity Shield!"

The Community Shield would mean victory in either the Premiership or the FA Cup and while such success would make it more difficult for Abramovich to sack a manager he appears to have lost patience with — to the point where he chose to stay away from a succession of matches and at one stage even refused to talk to him — victory in tomorrow's Carling Cup final would also strengthen Mourinho's hand.

Mourinho diffused his latest row with Arsene Wenger when he said he agreed with his rival's definition of greatness and chose his words fairly carefully when it came to the issue of meeting Arsenal's second string side.

Players Wenger calls the "X Factor Academy" will have to become X-Men if they are going to conquer Chelsea, albeit a Chelsea side that will be missing John Terry and possibly even Frank Lampard.

Lampard is expected to play but the England midfielder, who will captain the team, has been struggling with a nasty virus.

Mourinho said juggling his side in these times of adversity is all part of the excitement — if he loses another centre half he says he will ask Didier Drogba to fill in because Michael Ballack is "not quick enough" — and something that has made him "a better manager" this season.

If he is a better manager, would Chelsea not be crazy to get rid of him? "The power is in the club's hands," he said in what amounted to another dig in Russian ribs.

What makes a manager great has been hotly debated by Mourinho and Wenger this week and the debate continued on Friday.

"Charisma, charisma, charisma," said Mourinho. "Charisma is an English word, no? Respect from the players. Charisma. Love from the fans. Charisma. Trophies.

"A lot of things make a good manager but I agree with Wenger and I don't understand these stories.

"In Porto I said winning the Champions League doesn't make you a great manager. Wenger's never won the Champions League and he is a great manager. I feel very privileged to have won it but Arsene and I agree completely and we don't agree on many things."

Is Mourinho great? "Yes, I think I am," he said. "Not many have done what I did. I'm not saying I'm the best. I don't think that person exists. I think maybe there are eight, 10 or 12 in the world who do similar things.

"But what I did in Portugal was unique. I am the best in the history of my country. And when I came to England I think I was the first to win the championship in my first year. And I have won again and won other competitions. I have also set a few records in the Premiership."

So Chelsea already have the best manager they could wish for? "You finish with a good one," he said, again with a smile.

 

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