Mourinho: I can smell Stamford success

CHELSEA manager Jose Mourinho has warned Arsenal that his side are ready for the title fight after admitting he can smell the scent of success in the air at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho revealed that when he took the job as successor to Claudio Ranieri in the summer, he walked into a club which did not have the aroma of winners.

Now with Chelsea sitting proudly at the top of the Premiership summit, in the last eight of the Carling Cup and safely through to the knockout stages of the Champions League, Mourinho says he can detect the distinct whiff of glories to come.

Chelsea’s lead over champions Arsenal maybe slender but Mourinho says his players are not afraid of the pressure and are ready to mount the biggest fight of careers to win title.

“When I arrived, maybe because of the last few years, there was not a smell of victory about the place. You can smell success and belief in clubs and Chelsea was not one of these places. You go to Milan and open the door and you smell success because they win something every season.

“But it doesn’t surprise me how well the players have adapted. There has been big ambition here since the first day. We are not thinking that we are going to win every game and be top of the league until the last game but we will fight for that. I can now smell the success that I couldn’t when I first arrived and I think everybody can.”

Mourinho believes his mentality is rubbing off on all around Stamford Bridge as he added: “I think the fans are now believing it is possible.

“The last game is in Newcastle but maybe we can win it (the title) one week before when we play at home. We have everything to do it. I am not stupid, you know. I read my players, I have tried to do that since the first day. If I feel they are not ready to cope with pressures. I would never say we can win the title. But I think we are playing with more confidence and belief in spite of being top of the league. We have less pressure.

“Some teams have players not used to being top of league or of having that kind of responsibility - they are not comfortable in that position. My team are very comfortable.”

John Terry has been outstanding for Mourinho and he knows a sustained absence could be the undoing of his side just as Sol Campbell’s injury is posing problems for their rivals.

The Chelsea captain played against Spain on Wednesday night carrying a neck injury he sustained against Fulham the previous weekend. After an hour, England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson had to pull the defender out of the action because the injury worsened. Mourinho is gambling on Terry’s fitness today at home to Bolton and will then give him two days off and leave him out of Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Paris St Germain.

The Chelsea manager’s counterpart at Highbury, Arsene Wenger, has often labelled Campbell his ‘rock’ or ‘gladiator’ at the heart of his defence and Mourinho says the same words describe Terry’s importance.

“I think they are perfect words. He is my captain, Chelsea captain and the players’ captain. Sometimes captains are not this. Sometimes they are the club captain because they have been there for 20 years or the manager likes a player very much or the players elect him. John is a big guy for us.

“He went a little bit injured to the England game. He felt a little problem in his neck against Fulham but went to the national team. Mr Eriksson took him out after 60 minutes because he was worse. He is not okay but I think he can play. I want him very much to play. I think he has the character to do that. John is very important. We have a spine of four or five players who are crucial from the tactical point of view.”

Chelsea will also be without Joe Cole and Alexei Smertin today.