Villas-Boas well aware he has to be quick off mark

Villas-Boas was officially unveiled as the Blues’ boss almost four years after leaving the club as part of Jose Mourinho’s staff.

Mourinho famously arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2004 declaring himself the ‘Special One’, a moniker he backed up by masterminding the most successful period in Chelsea’s history.

Villas-Boas, who like his mentor quit Porto to take charge of the Blues, was far more humble yesterday, insisting winning major trophies would take a collective effort.

But the 33-year-old – the youngest manager in the Barclays Premier League – is under no illusions failure would cost him his job, just as it did predecessor Carlo Ancelotti.

“What you expect from this club is to be successful straight away,” said Villas-Boas, who broke several of Mourinho’s records en route to leading Porto to the domestic double and Europa League last season.

“I expect to be successful. To win straight away, on a weekly basis.

“There’s no running away from that challenge. That’s what I face.

“I’d be surprised to be kept on if I don’t win.

“I want to be a winner – that’s the challenge I promote to myself and my technical staff.

“Most of them took this challenge to be successful, not to be passing time here because the city is good.”

Despite signing a three-year deal and costing 15million euros to be released from his Porto contract, time is something Villas-Boas is unlikely to be given by the ultra-demanding Roman Abramovich.

Abramovich is now on his seventh manager since buying Chelsea eight years ago, the billionaire Russian becoming increasingly impatient in his quest to win the Champions League.

As well as this demand, his last four managers have operated under the shadow of Mourinho’s achievements and were inevitably asked upon their appointments if they too were a ‘Special One’.

It was no different yesterday for Villas-Boas, who said: “The title, I will wait for you guys to give it to me when I’m successful.

“I hope I am and you give me a good title in the end.

“This is not a one-man show.

“Maybe I should be called ‘The Group One’. I want to group people together to be successful. That’s my objective.”

Chelsea’s players can also expect a much stricter regime than that which departed at the end of last season, with Villas-Boas particularly strong on discipline.

But he denied he was a dictator, insisting his is an “open-minded” approach.

“There are many ways to be successful in football, being a dictator or not, training this way or not, but this is the way we believe in,” he added. “This is what we want to sell to our players, and, for sure, they will buy it.

“We want them to triumph as persons, as social role models. When they do that, they triumph as players as well.”

But how will Chelsea’s star-studded squad handle taking orders from a man barely older than themselves?

“It’s normal for people to judge my age,” Villas-Boas said. “The players are responsible and professional enough to respect the position of the manager.

“I was 31 at Academica and it was never a problem, even with some of the players older than me.

“It was never a problem. And it won’t be this time either.”

The new Chelsea manager’s youth will perhaps become most evident when first he faces the man he must topple at the Premier League summit.

Unlike Mourinho, Villas-Boas is not looking to pick a fight with Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson, who began his managerial career before his latest adversary was even born.

“I have the utmost respect for Sir Alex,” Villas-Boas said.

“I’m not a confrontational guy.”

He added: “It’s not just a question of me taking on Sir Alex or the other Premier League managers.

“It’s a question of a top club like Chelsea challenging for the title again.

“Last year, we ended on a very good run to threaten for the title in the last couple of games.

“I want us to be up there at the beginning.”

Villas-Boas insisted there would be no players bought and sold at Chelsea before the squad return for pre-season training next week.

And he is confident he will have the final say over comings and goings at Stamford Bridge this summer.

Chelsea have been linked with a host of players both before and after Villas-Boas’s appointment, while there has been persistent speculation over the futures of several current members of the squad.

The club this month had a £22m bid rejected for Tottenham star Luka Modric, while they have been linked since Villas-Boas’s arrival from Porto with some of their new manager’s former players, including striker Radamel Falcao.

Chelsea’s players report back from their holidays next Wednesday and Villas-Boas insisted every one of them would be given the chance to prove they deserved to remain at the club.

Former Chelsea player Roberto Di Matteo has been confirmed as Villas-Boas’s assistant first-team coach at Stamford Bridge.

Di Matteo had been out of work since being sacked by West Brom in February, despite leading them into the Premier League and earning praise for the quality of their football.