Bilic feels for Mourinho

By Tony Jimenez

LONDON (Reuters) – Whoever coined the phrase ‘it never rains but it pours’ has unwittingly provided a graphic illustration of the miserable start to the season that is being endured by Chelsea and Jose Mourinho.

Saturday’s 2-1 reverse at London rivals West Ham United was Chelsea’s fifth defeat in 10 Premier League games and everything that could go wrong for the champions, did go wrong.

Mourinho, who already has a suspended FA stadium ban hanging over him following repeated run-ins with match officials, was sent off at halftime, adding to the first-half dismissals of his enraged assistant Silvino Louro and midfielder Nemanja Matic.

Even West Ham manager Slaven Bilic had sympathy for Mourinho who also looked on in frustration when Cesc Fabregas had a first-half goal harshly ruled out for offside.

“I feel for him,” the Croat told reporters after goals from Mauro Zarate and substitute Andy Carroll gave third-placed West Ham victory at a wet Upton Park.

“A lot of decisions from his point of view have gone against him. Dynamo Kiev, Southampton, it’s too much for him. I would probably be the same (if it happened to me).”

Mourinho ranted about the referees turning down penalty claims after this week’s 0-0 Champions League draw in Kiev and the 3-1 Premier League defeat by Southampton earlier this month.

Bilic felt referee Jon Moss’ decisions to disallow Fabregas’ goal, when the Spain midfielder seemed to be in line with the last defender, and Matic’s second yellow card could easily have gone the other way.

Former Croatia defender Bilic admitted that he probably would have moaned too if Matic had been a West Ham player because the foul that led to the Serbia midfielder’s second caution was borderline.

Mourinho did not turn up for his post-match news conference and it was left to England defender Gary Cahill to sum up Chelsea’s deflated disposition.

“The mood in the dressing room is not great, like you’d imagine when you lose games,” the Chelsea goalscorer told the BBC. “The lads are devastated.

“You’re left scratching your head sometimes. In the first half the Fabregas goal could have been given and we had the goal that was nearly over the line. That sums up the way we’re going.”

Chelsea, who are sixth from bottom with 11 points, were denied another goal when Kurt Zouma’s first-half header came within millimetres of going over the line.

(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)