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Breaking News: Chelsea Turn To Jose Mourinho's B-Team Following Mourinho Stadium Banned



With Mourinho banned from the stadium, here's the men who will take charge of Chelsea in their desperate bid for win at Stoke
Saturday's trip to Stoke City sees Chelsea left without manager Jose Mourinho for one of their biggest games of the season so far.

The Blues boss will be forced to watch the 5.30pm Britannia Stadium clash from the comfort of a hotel room while his team of assistants conduct proceedings from the touchline.

Here, Sportsmail gives the lowdown on the roles of Mourinho's B-Team of Steve Holland, Silvino Louro, Rui Faria, Christophe Lollichon and Michael Emenalo.

Steve Holland - Assistant first-team coach

Holland will, in terms of his role at least, be acting as manager on his return to Stoke after a short spell leading the academy side in the Potteries.

The 45-year-old former Crewe Alexandra boss will take up Mourinho's media duties and take charge of the pre- and post-match formalities on Saturday.

Holland has worked in the first-team setup at Stamford Bridge since Andre Villas-Boas' arrival in 2011 and is the main British presence on the bench.

He is less combustible than the men sitting alongside him and tends to be seen as the backroom calming presence - something that could be needed with the main man absent.

Rui Faria - Assistant first-team coach
The closest of Mourinho's touchline disciples, Faria has worked alongside his fellow Portuguese throughout his managerial career from the humble beginnings at Uniao de Leiria in 2001.

Starting out as a fitness coach, his role in the dressing room has developed into so much more with Mourinho labelling him his: 'methodology right arm, the guy that understands best my information and the way I work'.

Faria is frequently drawn into rows with the opposition bench - sound familiar? - and should be expected to lead most of the pre-match preparations in training at the Britannia.

If Mourinho - as reported - is going to communicate with his team from a nearby hotel, Faria could be the man taking in and dishing out the orders.

Silvino Louro - Assistant first-team coach

Louro hit the headlines at West Ham last month when he was sent to the stands for raging at referee Jon Moss but the Portuguese has tended to stay under the radar in two spells at Chelsea.

Between 2004 and 2007 he was the goalkeeper coach at Stamford Bridge but now performs a more general role as assistant first-team coach.

Like Faria, Louro has a tendency to get into the odd touchline spat. He was alleged to have knocked over Barcelona club delegate Agustin Herrerin in an El Clasico meeting while with Real Madrid and was caught on camera aiming derogatory gestures at the opposition bench.

The former goalkeeper coach will play a key role pre-match during training but is likely to leave most of the touchline duties to Holland and Faria - perhaps wary of his situation after being warned of his conduct following the West Ham defeat.

He, too, could be part of any plan to get messages from the manager to the team. In the famous clash with Bayern Munich in which Faria was reported to have worn an earpiece, Louro was seen with notes in hand.

Christophe Lollichon - Goalkeeper coach
Lollichon's role is chiefly to brief and prepare Asmir Begovic at the Britannia - an important act if the former Stoke stopper has spent the week thinking over his error that almost cost Chelsea their win over Dynamo Kiev.

There were rumours this summer that Lollichon, a close friend of Petr Cech, would leave during the summer to move across London to Arsenal - but he has stayed on at Stamford Bridge.

Despite being in Mourinho's matchday dugout to assist the goalkeepers, Lollichon is often very quick to harass the fourth official.

He is perhaps one of the worst touchline tantrum offenders alongside Mourinho and Faria.


Michael Emenalo - Technical director
Emenalo probably won't be on the bench at the Britannia, but he will be central to the build-up ahead of the game.

The former Nigeria international joined Chelsea in 2007 under Avram Grant and while his presence has unsettled previous bosses his relationship with Mourinho is thought to be good.

Emenalo is present in training sessions at Chelsea's Cobham base and his influence could grow in Mourinho's absence.

Chris Jones - First-team fitness coach

Jones is the club's first-team fitness coach, and was named by Mourinho as staying at Stamford Bridge ahead of his second spell at Stamford Bridge.

A former employee at Fulham's academy, Jones works closely alongside Faria and may have to step up in the manager's absence.

Jose Morais - Assistant first-team coach
Morais' main function is to dictate the scouting reports of upcoming opposition - a role all the more important with no manager on hand at the Britannia Stadium.

He managed Saudi Arabian team Al-Shabbab on a sabbatical year last season before returning to his position within Mourinho's staff.

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