Jose Mourinho reveals his expectations for the rest of the season

Here are a few things Jose Mourinho expects.  This is not an exhaustive list.  Just a couple expectations of a more immediate nature.  Like winning today's match against Aston Villa.  And then having the job security to be able to turn the season around and make it back into the top four.  No, a mid-table finish (or worse) is not an expectation or an outcome that the club have made any plans for.

"Somebody will be out (of the top four). Do I think it's Chelsea? No."

"For me the important thing is the owner and the board's message to myself. Before the statement came out, I was having the feedback from the owner and the board. So the statement was not something new for me."

"I met the owner before dinner so, when I went to dinner, I knew. But even before that, I knew what brought me here. I know the conversation we had two years ago. I know what made me sign a new contract, and the reasons why the owner and the board decided to give me a new contract. They didn't have to. I had still two more years, so they didn't have to give me a new contract."

"After a bad result -- which is not the first bad result of the season, it's one more bad result -- obviously I was not happy, far from it. But I never thought about [being sacked]."

Why even release a statement then, a public vote of confidence that so often (if not always) ends in an eventual sacking?  It was a first for the Abramovich administration, just as Mourinho's contract extension was a first, and just as the apparent aim to build on the foundation of managerial stability is as well.  So, Mourinho thinks that maybe the aim was to try to prevent too much undue speculation about his future.

"Why did the statement come out? Maybe to close you [the media] off. Maybe to stop the rumour that I could be on my way out because the support to myself was not made by the statement, but by a normal conversation."

And it's mostly worked. A few Simeone and Ancelotti stories aside, it's worked.

What hasn't worked so well is Mourinho's private little (though with the club's support) battle with The FA.  The manager confirmed that having reviewed the written reasons (which have not yet been made available to the public), he has decided to appeal his fine and the suspended ban.

"I want to appeal because I disagree totally, and not just partially, but totally with the decision. It's obviously my decision."

I can't even begin to imagine what the fallout from another loss today would be, so I suppose Jose better make sure we win, or his appeal may not ever get heard.