Jose Mourinho has suggested his attempts to bring new players to Chelsea are being stifled by the club's hierarchy.
Chelsea's grip on the Premiership title has weakened in recent weeks and they were ruthlessly exposed by Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday.
The absence of John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho was keenly felt as Dirk Kuyt and Peter Crouch had a field-day against makeshift centre-backs Paulo Ferreira and Michael Essien.
Mourinho has repeatedly stated he needs to bring in a new centre-back to keep their title challenge on the rails, but he claims his pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
"I'm never allowed to do what I want because I'm the manager," he told the News of the World. "I am not the owner, I am not the chief-executive, I'm not the chairman - I'm just the manager.
"I give my opinions to the club and they try, if they want, to give me what I think is good for the team.
"I'm not a magician. We can't do miracles. We need a central-defender.
"At the end of December I gave my opinion. I said we needed two players: a central-defender and an attacking player."