For André Villas-Boas the question has come to involve whom he would rather have in his corner: the Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, or the squad's most influential players? With push coming to shove, as it so regularly does at the west London club, the manager can feel happy that he has the backing of the Big Man. But if Villas-Boas's survival feels balanced on a knife edge, it is a complication, to say the least, that Abramovich has long reserved the right to roll out of bed on any given morning and change his mind.

Villas-Boas's decision to respond to the latest stirrings of unrest within a notoriously egocentric dressing room by effectively stating that he does not care as long as Abramovich stands by him represented a bold if risky ploy. The movers and shakers around Stamford Bridge will say that it is not only the stalwarts of the squad who have lost faith in the 34-year-old manager. Away from the Spanish and Portuguese players, there are heavily set grievances. Listening to those who know, it is remarkable that Villas‑Boas remains in situ.

There was always the danger that it would come to this after Abramovich turned to the self-assured and intensely focused Portuguese, who shot to prominence last season by winning the league, cup and Europa League treble at Porto. More experienced managers than Villas-Boas have struggled to impose their will on the Chelsea dressing room and they had not suffered the disadvantage of working previously with the players in a more humble capacity. Villas-Boas was Chelsea's opposition scout during the José Mourinho glory years.

Abramovich finally came up for air towards the end of last month, having been consumed since the season's early months by his high court litigation battle with Boris Berezovsky. He is being sued by his former business associate for $5bn, which is roughly 40% of his fortune, and that is going to be more distracting than the squabbling of professional footballers.

Since the hearing finished for the judge to consider her verdict, Chelsea have drawn three Premier League matches and lost another – at Everton on Saturday, in dire fashion. A section of the Chelsea support told Villas-Boas: "You don't know what you're doing." Abramovich's desire, though, to see his man succeed has merely hardened. He is aware of the players' complaints, which centre on Villas-Boas's tactics, but at present he appears to share the manager's view that it is they who must do better. Stamford Bridge player power, perhaps, is not what it used to be.

Villas-Boas has been charged with renewing a squad that has aged in parts and one of the many bizarre plot-lines sees him needing players such as Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba to perform in the short term in order for him to consolidate his position which, ultimately, will lead to their departures in the longer term. It may be argued that, if it were not Villas-Boas, it would be somebody else, and that this is merely football but they could surely be forgiven for taking issue.

Villas-Boas's man-management issues must make his temples pound. But in the testing matches ahead, beginning with Saturday's FA Cup visit of Birmingham City, he will rely on the players' professional pride. It is not unusual to see the captain, John Terry, circle the shirt's badge and beat his chest. Villas-Boas will trade on forces greater than his own appeal.

"Because we defend this crest," he said, when asked how those in the ranks of the disaffected could continue to give their all in the fight for the minimum requirement of a fourth-placed Premier League finish. "There is enough power to be in a better position because we are given full conditions, talent-wise and facilities-wise, and because they pay us well. They don't pay us to be a failure so there is the demand for us to be successful. I think everybody understands this."

It all feels a little uneasy. And Villas-Boas is also prepared to take a calculated gamble against Birmingham by holding back Terry and Drogba for next Tuesday's Champions League last-16 first leg at Napoli. Terry's knee injury is a source of continuing concern – he trained fully only on Thursday – and Villas-Boas fears that he cannot play in both matches. Drogba, meanwhile, has been given a few extra days off after the Africa Cup of Nations. It would not be difficult to imagine the ferocity of the Napoli buildup if Birmingham are not safely dispatched.

If Villas-Boas looked isolated, he continued to be bullish. He was confident, "for sure", that Abramovich listened to him ahead of the voices in the dressing room and he was not worried about being unseated by player power. He would simply immerse himself in his work and tough it out.

There was even some humour. "The funniest thing in football is the vote of confidence," he said. "It means it is the end. Maybe I don't want one."

Villas-Boas said that he needed collective action. When it comes from only one man at Stamford Bridge, it is normally bad news.