Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho continued his criticism of Stamford Bridge supporters on Sunday, saying his team receive less support than their Premier League rivals when they play at home.
Mourinho surprised many when he suggested Chelsea's home support lacked passion after their 2-1 win against QPR on Saturday, and he expanded on his comments in his briefing with daily newspaper journalists.
Chelsea followers have often been his most passionate backers both during his first spell as Blues manager, during his time away from the club and since his return in the summer of 2013.
Yet those who have attended games at Stamford Bridge in recent years may echo Mourinho's observation that the supporters paying to watch Chelsea play in 2014 are lacking a coordinated vocal heartbeat, with pockets of fans chanting songs over the course of a match rather than a united effort from all present.
"I can clearly say we are the team to get less support in home matches," Mourinho told reporters. "I think it's getting worse. When comparing to my previous time, I think it's getting worse.
"I don't question the passion and the love. I'm nobody to question that and I know clearly that's not true. Chelsea fans show us their passion for this club every day, but there is a certain line of living [way of behaving] at the matches at Stamford Bridge."
It might not help Mourinho's cause that Stamford Bridge provides alternatives to watching the action on the pitch. Video game consoles are left on at the back of the family stand and are generally filled with children playing games rather than watching the game.
However, Tim Rolls, who serves as chairman of the Chelsea Supporters' Trust, suggested Mourinho's comments were misguided, as he argued large sections of potentially more vocal fans are being priced out of attending games at Stamford Bridge.
"I think the manager's criticisms were slightly ill-advised because the fans pay good money to watch highly paid footballers," said Rolls, in quotes appearing in the Daily Telegraph.
"While I'd rather the ground was like a bear-pit, that's not what the Premier League is like these days with the changed demographic of spectators coming to games, not least because there are an ever increasing number of tourists in the ground.
"On pricing, it's 50 pounds a game, give or take. So an awful lot of young people can't afford to go very often, clearly. That's a problem across the Premier League. In fact, the atmosphere issue is not just a Chelsea issue, either. We were at Old Trafford the previous week and the atmosphere wasn't what it was, just as it isn't at Liverpool, either.
"Home fans are made to sit down, but away fans can stand up. Home fans who do stand up and sing at the Bridge have received letters from the club saying a repetition could mean their season ticket or membership being revoked. That doesn't help.
"The average age of Chelsea supporters attending home games these days is over 40 -- it's nearer 50 where I sit -- and that is the case at a lot of Premier League grounds.
"We need to somehow be encouraging the 16-25s to come and the only way we can do that is price tickets accordingly, and allow them to congregate together in a 'singing section.'"
It remains to be seen whether Mourinho's comments will have a positive effect when his team play their next home match against West Bromwich Albion later this month, with the Chelsea boss laying down the gauntlet to his own fans to prove him wrong.