LONDON -- Jose Mourinho believes he still retains the support of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich because the Russian "is not a person to change with the wind," and has thanked Sir Alex Ferguson for backing him to turn the club's fortunes around.
Chelsea head into Wednesday's Champions League clash with Porto under pressure as speculation surrounds Mourinho's future as manager, with reports in recent days claiming that he has just a week to save his job and may be dismissed even if his side manages to reach the knockout stage.
Abramovich watched on at Stamford Bridge on Saturday as Chelsea suffered their eighth defeat in 15 Premier League matches, 1-0 against Bournemouth, to leave them 14th in the table, 14 points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester United. But Mourinho remains optimistic that he will be given time to bring the defending champions out of their slump.
When asked why he was so confident of Abramovich's continued support, the Chelsea boss told a news conference: "Because I think that I did lots of good things in this club for the owner to know the quality I have. The owner showed me that belief twice: once when he brought me back to the club, second time when he gave me a new contract for four years.
"I don't think the owner is a person to change with the wind. I know the wind of the results is an important wind; I know that this wind is strong because results in the Premier League are really bad.
"But I think the owner knows what I am, the owner knows what I give to this club, and the owner believes that I am the right person to do the job."
Mourinho received prominent backing this week from former United boss Ferguson, who insisted that Abramovich would be "foolish" to sack a manager who is enduring the worst run of results in his 12 years of coaching at the highest level of European football since "all good leaders will eventually find a solution."
"I didn't read, I didn't watch [Ferguson's comments]," Mourinho admitted. "Some people told me and it's a difference between the friends and the fake friends and the ones who are not even fake friends, who are honest and show immediately their feelings towards you.
"Sir Alex is my friend and obviously the words are very nice words. Sir Alex is not the kind of person who says something just because he likes somebody. Throughout his career he always showed that he is honest and analyses, and I thank him."
Mourinho added in his prematch news conference that striker Radamel Falcao is still a couple of weeks away from a return despite being back in training but that club captain John Terry and midfielder Ramires "look fine."