Chelsea Manager villas boas CHELSEA manager Andre Villas-Boas denied his team selection for the 3-0 Premier League victory over Bolton Wanderers had been influenced by owner Roman Abramovich.
The former Porto manager had admitted before the Stamford Bridge clash that the Russian had asked for an explanation following Tuesday night's 3-1 loss at Napoli in the Champions League.
Villas-Boas had named Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Michael Essien as substitutes for that game, and all three started against Bolton, who remain in the relegation places.
Lampard scored the third goal after David Luiz and Didier Drogba's second-half goals had put
Chelsea in control. Villas-Boas attempted to laugh off suggestions that Abramovich had told him to bring back the three experienced campaigners, who were all trophy-winning mainstays under
previous managers, including Jose Mourinho.
"I got the call this morning," he joked before adding: "I'm not in tune with Roman's agenda. All I
know is that it was important for the team to win, mostly for the fans as they have been deserving
and demanding a lot. At least they can go home smiling."
The victory lifted pressure off Villas-Boas's shoulders as a defeat would have intensified
speculation that he might be sacked. "The pressure has been on the team to get results," he admitted. "Our form had not been good and we wanted to get back to winning ways.
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