The Source of the trouble in the Russian Barracks Chel$ki

[Sir X]

<DIV class=M2FullAHeadline>EXCLUSIVE: SHEV'S A 'SNITCH'</DIV><DIV class=M2FullAStandfirst>Chelsea stars blame £30M flop for his pal Roman's bust-up with Jose</DIV><DIV class=M2FullAByline>by Oliver Holt, Chief Sports Writer</DIV><P class=add-linkout align=left><SPAN class=linkout-replaced>ANDRIY Shevchenko's Chelsea nightmare hit a new low last night when it emerged his team-mates regard him as a snitch.</SPAN><P class=add-linkout align=left>The Ukrainian striker has been desperately unhappy since his summer move from AC Milan and has spoken to billionaire owner Roman Abramovich about his plight.<P class=add-linkout align=left>But the rest of the players blame the £30million flop for the row between Abramovich and boss Jose Mourinho that is threatening to sabotage their season. They feel that Shevchenko, a close friend of Abramovich, is the owner's eyes and ears in the dressing room.<P class=add-linkout><DIV class=center id=mpuad style="DISPLAY: none"><DIV class=M2MpuAdvertisement id=mpuadheader>Advertisement</DIV><DIV class=center></DIV></DIV><P class=add-linkout align=left>And they have been unsettled by the fact that the smallest details of the struggling striker's dealings with Mourinho appear to have found their way back to the owner.<P class=add-linkout><P class=add-linkout align=left>They have not confronted Shevchenko about his actions because most players have been impressed by his humility and eagerness to get on with them since he arrived from Italy.<P class=add-linkout><P class=add-linkout align=left>But many of his team-mates are now wary of talking openly to him about club issues and he is becoming more and more a man apart at the club.<P class=add-linkout><P class=add-linkout align=left>"The players feel that if he is talking to Abramovich about his relationship with Jose, then what else is getting back," a source close to the team said last night. "They feel uncomfortable about the situation.<P class=add-linkout><P class=add-linkout align=left>"It's a shame because the players think Sheva's basically a decent bloke but they can't really trust him any more and that's obviously no good for team morale."<P class=add-linkout><P class=add-linkout align=left>Shevchenko has been desperately unhappy since he arrived from Italy and has scored only three Premiership goals.<P class=add-linkout><P class=add-linkout align=left>Far from adapting to the Premiership, he has become increasingly anonymous to the point where Abramovich tried to persuade Mourinho to add former Israel coach Avram Grant to his backroom team specifically to help Shevchenko. Mourinho rejected the offer.<P class=add-linkout><P class=add-linkout align=left><SPAN class=linkout-replaced>Mourinho has been given the go-ahead to buy a central defender. Bolton's Tal Ben Haim is the prime target after Deportivo La Coruna suddenly demanded £10million for Jorge Andrade.</SPAN>

[Sir X]

RE: The Source of the trouble in the Russian Barracks Chel$ki

<DIV class=M2FullAHeadline>WIN.. OR I KOP IT</DIV><DIV class=M2FullAStandfirst>Why Anfield showdown is D-Day for unhappy Jose Defeat at Liverpool will leave Mourinho at Russians' mercy</DIV><DIV class=M2FullAByline>Martin Lipton Chief Football Writer</DIV><P class=add-linkout align=left>JOSE MOURINHO will walk into a wall of hate at Anfield on Saturday - but it is the knife-wielders in the directors' box he needs to fear.<P class=add-linkout align=left><SPAN class=linkout-replaced><SPAN class=linkout-replaced>The Chelsea boss has made himself Public Enemy No.1 among </SPAN>Liverpool fans after a series of controversies over the past three seasons. But it is nothing compared to the animosity Mourinho has stirred up among Roman Abramovich and his advisers.</SPAN><P class=add-linkout align=left>And he now stands one nightmare weekend away from a potentially final confrontation that can only have one end.<P class=add-linkout><DIV class=center id=mpuad style="DISPLAY: none"><DIV class=M2MpuAdvertisement id=mpuadheader>Advertisement</DIV><DIV class=center></DIV></DIV><P class=add-linkout align=left><SPAN class=linkout-replaced>Mourinho's Stamford Bridge reign is so indelibly linked with Liverpool that it is only fitting Anfield is the venue for a game that can define or destroy his reign.</SPAN><P class=add-linkout><P class=add-linkout align=left><SPAN class=linkout-replaced>Should Chelsea extend their five-match Premiership winning streak over Rafa Benitez's side, Mourinho will be on firm ground.</SPAN><P class=add-linkout><P class=add-linkout align=left><SPAN class=linkout-replaced>And if Manchester United then slip up at the Emirates barely 24 hours later, the momentum shift will be a signal to the Blues board that they have to give Mourinho his head.</SPAN><P class=add-linkout><P class=add-linkout align=left>But if results go the other way and United's lead is stretched further, the attack dogs on both sides will be unleashed with no way of reining them back.<P class=add-linkout><P class=add-linkout align=left><SPAN class=linkout-replaced>Liverpool and Benitez have been running themes in the Mourinho story, from the New Year's Day win at Anfield in 2005 which made the players believe they would win the title, through the first trophy at Cardiff two months later and then the Champions League semi-final defeat.</SPAN><P class=add-linkout><P class=add-linkout align=left><SPAN class=linkout-replaced>Last season, the FA Cup semifinal loss to the Reds compounded the aggravation of finishing below Liverpool in their Champion League group and having to face Barcelona in the last 16.</SPAN><P class=add-linkout><P class=add-linkout align=left>"We'd like to think the worst of the problems are over and that results will turn our way again," said one Blues insider. "If we win and United d