Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas says he is unsure if he has Roman Abramovich's support

In a wide-ranging, hour-long interview in Portuguese, Villas-Boas also discussed in detail of changes that will be made to the squad this summer and attacked Manchester City over their “Italian standards” of football.

The most eye-catching revelations, however, centred on his comparison between Chelsea's plight this season with their last campaign which resulted in Ancelotti being fired.

“We are now in the exact same moment as last year,” Villas-Boas said.

“It is an exact copy, but with a less experienced coach. I know that, in the Abramovich era, we have the worst results but I think I have felt the confidence from the owner.

"Let’s see if he wants a change in the club or not.

“The pattern of behaviour of the owner has led to a downfall of managers in similar situations, or even ‘better’ situations. What will be his reaction?

"It will be one of two: either a continuation of the project and full support from above; or a continuation of the cultural pattern that has happened before.

"We don’t know. We don’t know if it’ll be tomorrow or in two years from now.

"It’ll depend upon what is your understanding of what is happening at the moment.”

Villas-Boas also revealed some of his plans for the future, should he survive, suggesting Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou would be among the players leaving while bids for Porto’s Joao Moutinho, Alvaro Pereira and, possibly, Hulk might be made.

While Chelsea have maintained that the club remain supportive of Villas-Boas, it is understood that Abramovich has been considering yet another change of manager after a poor run of form.

It is believed that Abramovich has been reviewing his options since the 2-0 away defeat to Everton on Feb 11, which followed his visits to the training ground, and that intensified in the wake of last Tuesday’s 3-1 away loss to Napoli in the Champions League.

Sources have claimed that Abramovich was “75 per cent certain” to turn to former Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez if he decided to make a change while there have also been suggestions that former Atlético Madrid coach Quique Sanchez Flores was a possible candidate.

The momentum behind Benítez has cooled in recent days with sources insisting that Abramovich would only offer a short-term deal before making a more permanent appointment in the summer, if he decides on a change, and concerns voiced as to whether the Spaniard is the right man for the job.

Benítez’s disciplined approach, and a previous history with Fernando Torres, count in his favour but he would be deeply unpopular with supporters while Abramovich has been desperate for Villas-Boas to succeed because it was his decision to pay the €15 million release clause in his Porto contract and hire him.

The 3-0 victory at home to Bolton Wanderers may have bought Villas-Boas some breathing space and, speaking ahead of that match, last Thursday, in a candid interview with the Portuguese radio station TSF, Villas-Boas said he remained “fully motivated to what I am doing” at Chelsea.

He dismissed suggestions that he might be seeking a return to Porto next season and said he wanted to see through the three-year project he has undertaken at Chelsea to change the team’s style of play and overhaul the squad.

Villas-Boas spoke about also changing the players’ “mentality”.

Abramovich is hoping that Villas-Boas can turn the club’s fortunes around but it could be that the lack of an alternative candidate, with Guus Hiddink having accepted the job of coaching the Russian club Anzhi, is keeping the Portuguese in his post.

In a sense, Villas-Boas has been asked to perform an impossible job, given the circumstances he is dealing with at Chelsea, and having also admitted last week that he had to explain his team selections against Napoli to Abramovich via the club’s technical director, Michael Emenalo.

There has also been tension with some senior players with Frank Lampard having reacted angrily to being left out against Napoli and Ashley Cole also expressing his surprise.

After Saturday’s win, Lampard admitted that his relationship with Villas-Boas is strained and had “not been ideal” and sources claim that the midfielder — and Cole — are among a number of players who could be moved on this summer if the manager survives.

With Didier Drogba at the end of his contract he, too, is set to go while, in his interview with the Lisbon-based station, Villas-Boas spoke of other changes that might be made.

“We have Kalou and Malouda, who are at the end of contracts, while Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge are the future,” he said.

Asked directly whether he was interested in the Porto forward Hulk, Villas-Boas added: “As such, there will surely be a place to fill and I see room for a player like an explosive winger, strong in one-on-one situations, this is a profile in which Hulk fits, as do other players we have referenced.”

His admiration of Hulk — and Napoli striker Edinson Cavani — is well known although the €100 million release clause in the Brazilian’s contract has, for now, ended any hope of a deal.

Of Moutinho and Perreira, who he failed to sign last summer, he said: “They could surely play in the Premier League and at Chelsea.”

Those comments are unlikely to have been well received at Port, and Villas-Boas’s reported attack on Manchester City is unlikely to win him friends, either.

“I refuse to built a team like City. I don’t like the standards of their football,” he said. “City are an Italian team and they follow the Italian standards.”