Andre Villas-Boas has an impossible job at Chelsea, says Porto president

Mourinho is the most successful manager in the club's history, winning the Premier League twice, an FA Cup and two League Cups before he was sacked by Roman Abramovich in 2007.

Villas-Boas was a coach during that time but his return to the club as manager from Porto last summer has been far from glorious with the Blues in danger of missing out on the Champions League next season.

On Sunday, Villas-Boas faced a stormy meeting with his players in front of Abramovich and today Porto president Pinto da Costa claimed the 34-year-old is being undermined by some of the squad texting their former boss.

"I think Villas-Boas is doing well at Chelsea," he said. "He only needs time to fine-tune the squad but this is impossible when there are players exchanging text messages with Mourinho.

"The only thing that could make him leave Chelsea will be the team's failure to qualify for the Champions League.

"If he were to leave Chelsea, I am sure he will become the next coach at Inter Milan. He has the right personality to coach the Nerazzurri.

"In the past, I said the same thing about Mourinho. However, in my opinion Villas-Boas made a mistake to leave Porto so soon. He thought that this was a unique opportunity but he would surely get other offers like that."

Chelsea's next two games will have a huge bearing on whether Villas-Boas has a long-term future at Stamford Bridge.

Standard Sport understands there are no plans to make any decision to replace him this week ahead of the matches against Birmingham in the FA Cup fifth round and Napoli in the Champions League.

Abramovich is still prepared to give him time to turn results around, although his patience is starting to run out and the manager has been made fully aware of the importance of progressing in both cup competitions.

At Sunday's meeting, some grievances were aired toward the coach in a frank and open discussion involving all the personnel but there was also an
as acceptance from the players that they were equally responsible and needed to play their part in turning the season around.

That sentiment has already been expressed in public by Frank Lampard, who gave an interview with Chelsea TV after the 2-0 defeat at Everton.
The club's main priority is to finish in the top four this season but a run of 12 points from their last 10 games has put that at risk.

Exactly three years ago Abramovich turned to Guus Hiddink with great success after a similar poor run cost Luiz Felipe Scolari his job and the Dutchman is available to fulfil the same role again if required.

However, it is hoped victory over Birmingham and a good result at Napoli in the first leg of their last 16 tie next Tuesday could spark a revival in their League form.

Conversely two defeats will add to the pressure on Villas-Boas and Abramovich will not hesitate to sack another manager if he feels the club are underachieving.

Villas-Boas has a tough decision on whether to risk recalling John Terry against Birmingham. The captain returned to light training yesterday but the knee injury which has ruled him out for three games is still a cause for concern.

He is unlikely to return to full training until the end of the week and while Villas-Boas is desperate to recall him for the Cup tie, he doesn't want him to aggravate the problem and miss the trip to Italy.

Chelsea's defence has conceded six goals in his absence and his leadership has been sorely missed.