Fantastic Manager - Mourinho

Jose Mourinho has told his critics to remember he is "a fantastic manager" - even when Chelsea are losing.

The Blues boss admitted he had forgotten what it felt like to win until his side beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 4-0 in their Champions League opener on Wednesday night.

The comprehensive victory was just a second this season for the English champions, who are already 11 points off Manchester City's Premier League pace.

But Mourinho fiercely defended his managerial record in the run-up to the Maccabi game, and afterwards he warned critics against what he claims is kneejerk analysis.

"There are people who are not happy with so many successes," said Mourinho, who again denied any breakdown in his relationship with captain John Terry who was one of several high profile players dropped to the bench for the game.

"Wayne Rooney was a disaster, then he beats the record with England and he's suddenly the best player in the history of English football. Rooney is a fantastic player when he's not scoring goals or when he is.

"I am a fantastic manager when I'm not winning matches and I'm a fantastic manager when I am.

"You like 'up and down', but it's not like that. The pundits get big money not to say easy things. They have to be geniuses in their analysis or they don't deserve the money they get."

Cesc Fabregas scored Chelsea's fourth goal against Maccabi and will be up against old side Arsenal on Saturday

Mourinho welcomed the vocal support of the home fans during the Maccabi game, saying: "It shows that they don't read papers or they don't have short memories: if they don't read papers they'll support me, if they don't have short memories they'll support me.

"There's an easy way for them to think, which is: 'we won four premier Leagues, three with him and one with his team, so this guy is not bad. let's support him, and we have a chance to win a fifth'."

Next up for Mourinho is a meeting with Arsenal and old adversary Arsene Wenger, who recorded a first win over the Portuguese in last month's Community Shield.

He said: "For all of us to have woken up again after a defeat and two days before a London derby against Arsenal, I could imagine how it would feel."

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Naismith Makes a Difference

Steven Naismith has paid for Christmas dinner for hundreds of homeless people though he may not be able to rely on his Everton salary for much longer after his manager Roberto Martínez hinted that the forward’s future may lie away from Goodison Park.

The Scottish forward sponsored an annual meal in Glasgow organised by the charity, Loaves and Fishes, which helps those sleeping rough in the city.

Naismith described the event as “humbling and inspiring”, telling the Liverpool Echo: “When I was at Rangers and had a few bad injuries and wasn’t playing I thought it was a good opportunity to start helping, so I spoke to family and friends about where I wanted to make a difference if I could and Loaves and Fishes got brought up a couple of times.

“It’s a small gesture I make and in terms of the difference it makes, it’s massive. I enjoy it, you meet a lot of great characters in there who tell you what they think about football and how good or bad a footballer they think you are, things like that, so it’s great to go in and spend the afternoon with them.”

It is not the first time Naismith has put his hand in his pocket to help the disadvantaged. In 2014 he bought tickets for Everton home games to donate to unemployed people across Liverpool.

At Everton, Naismith has found himself increasingly sidelined, with Romelu Lukaku, Arouna Koné, Gerard Deulofeu and Ross Barkley monopolising the attacking positions.

Norwich, Everton’s opponents on Saturday, made a deadline-day bid for Naismith in the summer but were rebuffed by Martínez.

However, with Naismith not having been involved in a Premier League game since mid-October, it appears a move in January could be on the cards.

Martínez said: “That’s something we need to look into whenever that situation arises. It happened in August, it wasn’t the right time. We’re going to see how the next three or four weeks go.

“It’s so important to have a strong squad. We’ve got a period of a lot of games in a short amount of days and every single player will have a very important role in those weeks.

“So I’m sure in four or five weeks we’ll have a clear idea of where we are and it’ll be the right time to make a decision.

“Steven is a very intelligent man, intelligent footballer, and I think he’s got an incredible degree of confidence.

“It is true it’s been very frustrating for certain players in those attacking positions due to the fact some of the players that are playing in those roles have reached an incredible level of form. I think as a player you understand that.”

Naismith had said he was frustrated about being left out of the side. “When Norwich were interested in me in the summer, it was the manager who said he didn’t want it to happen. But as a player you need to think about all your options.

“The manager said we’d speak about it again come January time so we’ll do that.”

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Mourinho Mad as Hell

Jose Mourinho challenged Chelsea to stick with him or sack him after the capitulation against Southampton.

Captain John Terry was restored but Saints exposed the now familiar failings in the defence which just five months ago formed the foundation for winning the title, with goals from Steven Davis, Sadio Mane and Graziano Pelle earning a first win at Stamford Bridge since January 2002.

The Blues, who had taken the lead through Willian's free-kick, were booed off after a fourth loss in eight Premier League games left them 16th in the table, one place below newly-promoted Bournemouth.

In a seven-minute outburst to Sky Sports, Mourinho said: "If the club want to sack me, they have to sack me because I'm not running away from my responsibility and my team.

"This is a crucial moment in the history of this club because if the club sacks me, they sack the best manager this club had and the message is: bad results and the manager is guilty."

He later added in his post-match media conference: "No way I resign. No way. Why? Because Chelsea cannot have a better manager than me.

"I want the best for my club and the best for my club is for me to stay."

Mourinho felt aggrieved Chelsea were not awarded a penalty in the second half at Stamford Bridge when Radamel Falcao appeared to be brought down by Saints 'keeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

Southampton took the lead three minutes after referee Robert Madley's decision through Sadio Mane, and Mourinho felt it was an indication referees were afraid to give decisions to the Blues.

He added: "When we are at the top I understand that there is quite a big pleasure on putting us down.

"But when you are down you need to be a bit honest and to make clear that the referees are afraid to give decisions for Chelsea.

"The result [was] 1-1, there is a huge penalty and, once more, we don't get. A penalty is a crucial moment in the game with the result 1-1.

"I repeat, if the FA want to punish me, they can punish me, they don't punish other managers, they punish me - it's not a problem for me.

"But I want to repeat because I think my players deserve it, I think our fans deserve it and I am a Chelsea fan too. I want to say it again: referees are afraid to give decisions for Chelsea.

"Why? Because if they give there is always a question mark from you, there is always a question, there is always a critic, we are always punished."

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