Vote of confidence could soon mean no way for Jose

Jose Mourinho has been given a vote of confidence by Chelsea’s owners. However, history suggests that managers publicly backed by their board survive for only 48 days, which would mean Chelsea sacking Mourinho on Nov 22 ...

LONDON — When Chelsea this week issued their manager with a vote of confidence for the first time in the Roman Abramovich era, they probably did not realise the implications of what they were doing.

On the face of it, their actions were a show of support for Jose Mourinho: It was unusual for them to publicly back their increasingly beleaguered manager, rather than simply discard him.

The closest the very private Abramovich had previously come to a vote of confidence was in November 2011, when he told Andre Villas-Boas he had his support, only to dismiss him 100 days later.

That is generally what can be expected of managers who are given the “dreaded vote of confidence” in public, too, and could hint at Mourinho’s fate. Very rarely indeed do managers who are backed in public ever survive for a significant amount of time. Often they are removed within a matter of weeks.

A morning spent researching the vote of confidence hints that the future looks rather bleak for Mourinho.

A sample of 16 recent votes of confidence reveals that the average amount of time that ultimately sacked managers last at that club is only 48.4 days. Were Mourinho to survive that long, it would take him through to Nov 22, a day after facing Norwich at home, where a poor result may force Abramovich’s hand.

This number is, of course, only taking into account managers that were eventually sacked by their club, but the Chelsea boss has insisted that if he is to depart, his superiors would have to sack him.

Brendan Rodgers lasted only 57 days after he was given his board’s backing on the eve of the 2015/16 Premier League season, while earlier this year Ian Holloway was afforded only 11 more days at Millwall.

Back in 2008, Juande Ramos survived just eight days at Tottenham after being given a vote of confidence, when two losses in the space of a week sealed his fate. Results instantly improved after he departed.

In 2012, Alex McLeish was given the boot 19 days after being backed. Mick McCarthy lasted just 32 days at Wolves and Kenny Dalglish 34 days at Liverpool.

Roberto Mancini was given a further 54 days at Manchester City before being removed in May 2013.

Clearly, when a board is forced into a position where it feels it is necessary to voice their support for the manager, they are already considering his role at the club.

It does not always turn out that the trigger is pulled so instantaneously. Roy Hodgson was given nearly three months at Liverpool before being removed, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lasted a further 216 days at Cardiff.

Incredibly, Paul Lambert was given a vote of confidence in three consecutive Januarys at Aston Villa, surviving the first two (in 2013 and last year) before a third at the start of this year from chief executive Tom Fox proved one too many. He was sacked two weeks later.

Few managers are afforded the level of patience the Aston Villa board gave Lambert, though Mourinho could have a little more time than most given his past achievements at Stamford Bridge.

There is, of course, the chance that Mourinho will recover from the current slump and go on to enjoy a long spell at Chelsea.

Alex Ferguson was given a vote of confidence in 2004 and Arsene Wenger was, too, in 2011. Both avoided the sack, so perhaps there is still hope for Mourinho.

However, neither was in as dire a predicament as Chelsea’s at present, and both had also already enjoyed far more success at their respective clubs.

History would suggest that time could be up for Mourinho before long; the dreaded vote of confidence leaves few survivors. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH