Chelsea prepare case for the defence

CHELSEA put the finishing touches to their defence yesterday as they prepared for tomorrow’s disciplinary hearing at UEFA’s headquarters in Switzerland.

Chelsea had until 5pm to defend their position over accusations that they lied over the Anders Frisk controversy.

Mourinho, his assistant Steve Clarke and security officer Les Miles face a UEFA disciplinary hearing tomorrow into their claims that referee Frisk met with Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard during the half-time break of Chelsea’s stormy Champions League first leg clash at the Nou Camp.

However, Mourinho has insisted he had not seen the incident himself and it is understood that only witness statements from Clarke and Miles will be included in their defence claim.

Chelsea are likely to send their lawyers out to Nyon to pursue their view that a fair hearing is out of the question because of comments made by UEFA’s Director of Communications, William Gaillard, last week.

Gaillard, who was unavailable for comment yesterday following Mourinho’s latest admission, suggested that Mourinho, Clarke and Miles had been lying in their report to UEFA.

Mourinho had originally claimed he had personally witnessed the incident but now claims he was told about it by his staff.

With the Premier League also poised to probe the ‘tapping-up’ scandal surrounding Arsenal’s Ashley Cole, Mourinho is under pressure to stay out of trouble.

But the outspoken Chelsea manager yesterday insisted he will not change his ways despite the numerous clashes with football authorities this season. Mourinho declared: “I won’t change my personality and I won’t change my principles. I believe that I do things in the correct way for a modern manager in a modern society.

“The picture people have of me is of an arrogant and tough man which I can accept, but people who work with me know that I’m a defender of team-work.

“I believe I am a good person. I never like to fight, that’s the wrong image, but I don’t run away from problems, especially when I believe in what I’m doing.

Mourinho also insisted he would bring success to Chelsea even without Roman Abramovich’s riches. The Russian billionaire has invested over £300million in the club in the last two years but, in another dig at Claudio Ranieri, Mourinho said his predecessor had failed to take advantage of that largesse.

He said: “I’m connected to very a special financial administration, this is true, but before I arrived the previous people at the club had exactly the same administration and they did not succeed.

“The finance is not the most important factor. It’s a big help but it’s more about creating a squad, creating a team.

“It’s the biggest lie in football to say that managers need time to have success, because it’s a lie we make to protect ourselves. We don’t need a lot of time. If from the first day you’re working with the right principles you don’t need time.”

Meanwhile, Chelsea are optimistic that Arjen Robben is not as badly injured as first feared. The Dutchman was undergoing further scans on his damaged calf muscle yesterday amid claims that revolutionary ‘blood-spinning’ treatments were being used on the player in a bid to speed up his rehabilitation.