Mourinho unlikely to face Chelsea fan fury
Jose Mourinho is unlikely to face any negative reaction from Chelsea's supporters after criticising the Stamford Bridge atmosphere.
That is the view of Chelsea Supporters Trust (CST) chairman Tim Rolls, who expects the Portuguese to remain a popular figure at the club, despite questioning the fans after Saturday's narrow win over QPR.
Chelsea laboured to a 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge, with Mourinho stating it took 30 minutes for him "to understand the stadium was not empty" before adding that Chelsea "get less support" than other sides in their home fixtures.
However, Rolls believes the Premier League leaders' results keep Mourinho somewhat beyond criticism from Chelsea's fanbase.
Asked whether there was a chance his comments may lead to resentment, Rolls told Perform: "No, none whatsoever. He's winning games and we're top of the league. If he carries on like this there'll be no negativity.
"He is an extremely popular manager, I don't see any sort of lingering resentment on this at all, he said his point.
"I think he's given the club some serious issues to talk about because the publicity has all been about ticket prices and stewarding and creating an atmosphere.
"But I really don't think there's going to be any resentment towards him at all."
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Rolls also believes Mourinho's comments have helped publicise issues relating to pricing of matches and atmosphere in English football.
"The atmosphere on Saturday wasn't brilliant but it was probably no worse than other games and it's opened a can of worms - the press picked up on it straight away," he added.
"The average age of Chelsea supporters is over 40 as it is at most Premier League clubs. If you want a better atmosphere, you need more young people.
"To have that you need cheaper tickets for young people and a section of the ground where they can congregate.
"It's unrealistic to expect people to just turn on an atmosphere every game from kick-off, if it was a bigger game like Tottenham or Man United or Liverpool you do get a better atmosphere from the start.
"He's trying to gee everyone up but it just indicates yet again the way football has gone, the way football has changed.
"It's in the hands of the clubs to do something about it. It's a deeper issue than just a few people chanting or singing more loudly against QPR."