Jose Mourinho declined to reveal if discussions had taken place with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich over his future, merely pointing to his lengthy contract.
The embattled coach is under pressure from all angles - not least to retain his place as manager amid a miserable run of results.
Mourinho said: “I don’t have to answer you if I was with the owner or not.”
Asked how much time he thought he had, Mourinho, who signed a new contract until June 2019 on the eve of the season, said: Four years. In this case, three years and seven months.”
Mourinho’s problems are piling up after he was given a one-match stadium ban and became the subject of a personal legal claim from former first-team doctor Eva Carneiro.
His side have lost nine of 17 games in all competitions this season ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League Group G clash with Dynamo Kiev.
He was subject of the first managerial vote of confidence in Roman Abramovich’s 12-year ownership on October 5, but Chelsea have one win in five games since, against a free-falling Aston Villa.
The Portuguese did not address either matter on Tuesday lunchtime.
Reports of dissent in the ranks - one player reportedly said he would prefer to lose than win for Mourinho - have been repeatedly dismissed, with Cesc Fabregas publicly denying he was the ring-leader on Tuesday morning.
Mourinho said: “Look I think it’s a very sad accusation, because you are accusing a player or more than one player, I don’t know, of dishonesty.
“If I accuse you of being a dishonest journalist, I think you’d be very upset and probably you’d take legal action. It’s a question for the player, not for me.”
Mourinho refused to discuss how Chelsea have fallen from champions in May to perilously close to the Premier League relegation zone 11 games into the new season after six losses.
“It’s a combination of factors and some of them I can’t, I don’t want to touch them,” he added.
Mourinho says he still has the support of his players and he will still back them.
“For my players I do everything. I always did and I am not going to change,” Mourinho added.
Mourinho is experiencing a time which he predicted after winning his first Champions League with Porto in 2004, before his first highly-successful spell at Chelsea.
“Yes, It’s new for me. That’s why I am a good one (manager). If I was a bad one it would come before (now),” Mourinho said.
“Yesterday a friend sent me some quotes of my press conference after the Champions League final in May 2004. I said that one day my career bad results will come.
“I said that in 2004 after winning the Champions League final with Porto: one day in my career the bad results will come and I will face the bad results with the same honesty and dignity that I’m facing now as European champion.
“I resisted well to the nature of my job - 11 years waiting for this.
“It took time, but came in a moment where I am stable and I am strong to face it.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
More on animal trafficking
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The past Palme d'Or winners
2018 Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda
2017 The Square, Ruben Ostlund
2016 I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach
2015 Dheepan, Jacques Audiard
2014 Winter Sleep (Kış Uykusu), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
2013 Blue is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d'Adèle: Chapitres 1 et 2), Abdellatif Kechiche, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux
2012 Amour, Michael Haneke
2011 The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat), Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2009 The White Ribbon (Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte), Michael Haneke
2008 The Class (Entre les murs), Laurent Cantet
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
