José Mourinho retains the support of the Chelsea hierarchy, despite another damaging loss – this time at the hands of struggling Bournemouth. The Premier League newcomers had not won a game for two and a half months yet came to Stamford Bridge to inflict more misery on the reigning champions’ dismal season.

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Roman Abramovich was in attendance, watching on as Chelsea succumbed to their eighth defeat in the league. The week ahead brings two difficult assignments and it is hard to imagine the owner’s continued support of Mourinho can be sustained much longer if they do not end positively. On Wednesday night Chelsea must avoid defeat against Porto in the Champions League to ensure they do not give Dynamo Kyiv the invitation to condemn them to Europa League football. The following Monday Mourinho takes his team to the home of an old friend of Chelsea but a personal enemy – Claudio Ranieri, at table-topping Leicester City.

Mourinho’s mood was understandably dark in the aftermath of another setback but there was also a hint of weariness in his demeanour as he went through the motions of giving a public assessment of this latest loss. This was not the Mourinho of impassioned conspiracy theories, seven-minute long pronouncements or “nothing to say” repetitions. It seemed as if, having exhausted his options in terms of putting on a front or a spin on Chelsea’s predicament, he could do little more than offer a relatively understated explanation. The level of fight in the dog seemed low.

Naturally, he was disappointed by a couple of key decisions that did not go in Chelsea’s favour, calling them “unlucky details”. There was a penalty shout as Simon Francis’s arm made contact with the ball as the defender slid along the skiddy surface and a marginal offside decision about Glenn Murray’s winner for Bournemouth. Even so, Chelsea’s failings were highlighted by the fact that, though they managed a spell of pressure in the second half, the visiting manager, Eddie Howe, remarked that he did not feel “in any grave danger of conceding”.

Chelsea’s struggle for ruthlessness, a trait that was a hallmark of their successful times under Mourinho, underpinned the mood of frustration.

Asked for an opinion on where the malaise stems from, Nemanja Matic strained to find an answer. “What is the problem? I’m not sure,” he said. “I’m just one of the players but I’m sure we have to improve in some aspects. We have to try and work hard and see where is our problem. We are in a difficult situation, so it’s going to be hard to come back from this, but we have to try to resolve this problem.”

Irrespective of the lowly position of 14th in the table, backing for Mourinho from Chelsea fans goes on. There was little evidence of mutinous noises from the crowd at the final whistle.