Abramovich is running out of patience after Chelsea slipped out of the top four in the Barclays Premier League last weekend. He monitored training before the 3-3 draw with Manchester United and spent five of the next six days at their Cobham training centre before defeat at Goodison Park.
He held talks with Villas-Boas after the manager instigated a meeting with his squad on Sunday but has not been at the training ground since, which started fuelling speculation among the players that he has started the search for an alternative coach.
Villas-Boas, whose position looks weaker still after it emerged some of his players have been texting former boss Jose Mourinho about the situation, has a tough FA Cup tie against Birmingham at Stamford Bridge this weekend before their Champions League challenge resumes against Napoli.
Andre Villas-Boas is under threat at Chelsea after the players openly criticised his tactics in a training-ground inquest following the 2-0 defeat at Everton last weekend.
It is approaching a critical stage of the season for the Boas, who could well be without skipper John Terry for the FA Cup game on Saturday, with the Champions League clash with Napoli three days later.
Terry hoped that Villas-Boas’ decision to give him time off would help with his recovery from a knee injury but he managed just half an hour of yesterday’s training session before heading off for treatment.
Hiddink, as ever, is Roman Abramovich’s fallback option but unfortunately the Dutchman is also a front-runner, along with Fabio Capello, to be offered the job with the big-spending Russians.
Anzhi manager Yuri Krasnozhan resigned this week and the Russians want a high-profile replacement before their transfer window closes a week on Friday.
Hiddink coached Chelsea on an interim basis in 2009 and secured a top-four finish, along with the FA Cup, after Luiz Felipe Scolari’s disastrous spell.
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