Mourinho sets conditions for Chelsea stay

Jose Mourinho, seen here 13 January 2007, has laid down his conditions for staying at Chelsea, saying he will be happy to stay at the Premiership champions if he is offered "real support and complete respect" from the club's board.

Jose Mourinho has laid down his conditions for staying at Chelsea, saying he will be happy to stay at the Premiership champions if he is offered "real support and complete respect" from the club's board.

Mourinho's future has been thrown into question against a background of tensions with Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich over the handling of the misfiring 30-million-pound striker Andriy Shevchenko.

There have also been reports that the Portuguese manager has been angered by Abramovich's apparent refusal to provide the funds for transfers during the January window for buying and selling players.

Reacting to a public expression of support from Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon, Mourinho implicitly acknowledged on Thursday that there were problems behind the scenes, but insisted the issues were not related to money.

"Being supportive is not just about giving you money to spend on players," he said. "Being supportive is much more than that. I would say that money is the last part of the support you need.

"So if the club is supportive of me it means that it is supportive of my team because my team is completely with me. We are together since the first day and that hasn't changed so if the club is supportive it's very important."

Jose Mourinho, seen here 02 January 2007, has laid down his conditions for staying at Chelsea, saying he will be happy to stay at the Premiership champions if he is offered "real support and complete respect" from the club's board.

Mourinho added: "Everything is good for me and the support Peter Kenyon was saying to you that the club has for me, if that support is real support - again not about money - but is about real support and complete respect for your job in the club then I will be very happy to see out my contract until the end."

Kenyon had earlier expressed confidence that Mourinho, widely tipped to quit at the end of this season, would stay with Chelsea for the duration of his contract, which expires in 2010.

"The board are fully supportive of Jose," Kenyon claimed. "He is fully committed to seeing the job out."

Mourinho responded: "I like to hear that. It's important for a manager to know and to feel that the club wants him, likes him and supports him."

According to reports, Mourinho has been angered by what he regards as the undue influence the Dane Frank Arnesen has on transfer policy at Chelsea and by plans to bring in former Israel coach Abraham Grant from Portsmouth to work with Shevchenko.

But he insisted that he was happy working and living in London, suggesting total control of team affairs is not the only issue for him as he mulls over his next move.

"My family is happy here," Mourinho said. "My kids are in a moment of their lives where a change year after year is not good for them."