Mourinho claims hearts and minds in power struggle

Depending on who you listen to, he is an ungovernable ego who brooks no dissent or a flawed genius destined to be forever misunderstood - what most who know him agree on is that Jose Mourinho can be a handful. The good ones often are. But as he orchestrated an awe-inspiring Chelsea victory on Tuesday night the question that nagged was whether Mourinho's moods are an excuse for sacking Mourinho the manager?

As the English season heats up to boiling point, we face a situation that could only be considered possible in the madhouse of Chelsea: a manager who could win all four major trophies, beloved of his players and his supporters - yet about to be ousted by a disgruntled owner nonetheless. It is an act of self-destruction peculiar to English football and its ego and factionalism. The rift between Roman Abramovich and Mourinho has become like some ancient religious feud: no-one can quite remember exactly how or why it started, just that it is not getting any better.

Abramovich was not at the Mestalla Stadium to watch the defeat of Valencia although quite what "official business" in Russia was so important to keep him away is difficult to imagine. This is the same billionaire who would forsake a day in Monte Carlo for an afternoon at Vicarage Road, who once even tried to get to the McCain Stadium in Scarborough for an FA Cup tie but could not find a spot to land his helicopter. If he cannot bear to be in the same stadium as Mourinho for a game like Tuesday's - the kind of night which must make £500m worth of investment in a football club seem worthwhile - then there does not seem to be much mileage in this relationship.

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It goes to the heart of whether a man who amassed one of the world's largest fortunes before he reached the age of 40 can put aside the occasional irritations of Mourinho, reconcile himself to the fact that he has the best man for the job and start enjoying the whole thing again. There is little doubt that Mourinho can be something of a megalomaniac at times but when your team is one goal down and facing elimination in the Champions League quarter-finals with 45 minutes to play, he is a useful megalomaniac to have around.

Mourinho is a brittle soul and absolutely unable to ignore the opportunity to give his opinion when asked. Chelsea officials have, of late, done an effective job in intercepting questions about his relationship with Abramovich - even twisting the microphone away from his mouth at times - but on Tuesday night the key question crept in under the radar. It was to a question in Spanish, that Mourinho answered, in Spanish, that he could not be sure of being Chelsea's manager next season. That is the danger of having a manager who can argue the toss in three different languages.

The tenacious manner of victory over Valencia, the tactical changes and the introduction of Joe Cole reminded us how much English football, not to mention Chelsea, will miss Mourinho if he leaves in the summer. This is one of the great managerial talents and, just as Manchester United have had their moments over the years with Sir Alex Ferguson, there is a careful line to be trod between indulging Mourinho and alienating him. Chelsea's refusal to buy a defender or a striker in January amid a desperate injury crisis was simply vindictive.

Despite that, the greatest achievement of Mourinho's years at Chelsea was plain to see on Tuesday. He has brought together an expensively assembled team of players at a club some of them will not have heard of five years earlier and given them a spirit and a unity that belies their status as fabulously rich young men. The notion of Chelsea as a plaything for an idle billionaire is no better redressed than in the way that Abramovich's club plays. They have scored 25 goals in the last 10 minutes of games and there is nothing louche or grandiose about that sort of team.

A calm seems to have descended on Mourinho of late, the kind of mood that suggests he is reconciled to his fate when this season ends and that he knows he may be about to put his employers in a most invidious position if they come to get rid of him. It is a cold reality in football that you can lavish as much money as you like on a club but have no guarantee that it will buy you the love of the supporters if you sack the wrong man. The power at Chelsea resides with Abramovich; the public feeling, you suspect, with Mourinho.