Mourinho keeps Blues in the race

Ebullient would perhaps be the best word to describe the persona that is Jose Mourinho. Despite being criticised for being a polarising figure his charisma lay in the fact that many a football fan, who hated Chelsea to guts but adored him, had let out a wail when the pink slip was issued to him bringing an abrupt end to his successful reign in 2007.

Most football analysts perceived that act of the Blues owner Roman Abramovich as calamitous. Continual clashes relating to whose ego was more inflated were widely seen as the reason behind Mourinho getting the boot. In the subsequent plot of the managerial merry-goround that followed in the wake of Mourinho's exit almost all the managers would strongly testify to what has now come to be believed as the gospel truth that no owner in the Premiership would be more censorious than the Russian oligarch. Against such a backdrop not many would have been too keen on placing a wager on the self-styled 'Special One' making a return to Stamford Bridge.

At the halfway stage of the current season Chelsea remain within striking proximity of league leaders Arsenal.

Mourinho, in his own inimitable style, has challenged his team, who secured a thrilling win against Sunderland on Thursday, to maintain their recent upsurge in away form. The second-placed Blues head for Stoke in two days carrying the confidence of a team that has won their last three away matches. Chelsea's evening against the Black Cats might have been far more straightforward had striker Fernando Torres taken any of the three gilt-edged chances which came his way, but Mourinho was happy with the Spain international's contribution. After suffering the ignominy of being the first defending champions of the European Cup to get knocked out in the group stages last year, Chelsea have made a confident beginning this season and in spite of the two setbacks at the hands of FC Basel they have booked their place in the second stage. Things have started looking rosy again for the Blues after an initial spell of turbulence and with Mourinho in the cockpit the possibility of their season crash-landing is remote.