Breaking news: Mourinho leaves Chelsea
00:34 - BBC Radio 5live is reporting that Jose Mourinho has left Chelsea. It is not yet clear if he resigned or was sacked.
There has been no official confirmation so far from the club.
00:50 - Unconfirmed reports suggest that Mourinho said he would quit a few days ago and Chelsea couldn’t get him to change his mind. This would certainly explain Roman Abramovich’s demeanour during Tuesday’s Champions League game at Stamford Bridge.
01:23 - First mention of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s name in the Sun newspaper. God help us.
01:33 - “Jose Mourinho’s expected exit from Chelsea is down to his summer transfer dealings, according to a club insider.” The Sun is off and running.
01:44 - The reports are confirmed. Official Chelsea Football Club statement published: “Chelsea Football Club and Jose Mourinho have agreed to part company today (Thursday) by mutual consent.” The usual “by mutual consent” bollocks.
01:56 - The Daily Telegraph is reporting that Mourinho resigned because of a major row with Roman Abramovich over the future direction of the club. Apparently Bruce Buck and Peter Kenyon were completely in the dark over Mourinho’s departure.
02:19 - The Daily Mail says Mourinho contacted five senior players yesterday afternoon to inform them of his departure and by midnight the entire first team squad were aware he was going. Avram Grant is expected to take charge of the side for Sunday’s Premier League game at Old Trafford.
02:26 - The Times writes that there is growing evidence that Mourinho did not walk out on the club but was dismissed. Jorge Mendes, Mourinho’s agent, is expected to fly to London today to negotiate a payoff.
03:46 - Sky Sports News says Mourinho was called to an emergency meeting late on Wednesday night with Peter Kenyon, Bruce Buck and Eugene Tenenbaum. Mourinho had earlier joined the first team at the DVD launch in Fulham of “Blue Revolution”. Draw your own conclusions.
09:15 - Back in the hot seat. The Sun gets in first with the “Mourinho lost the dressing room” story. Apparently his future was doomed after a dramatic bust-up with John Terry.
09:19 - Chelsea are set to name Avram Grant as their new manager today, according to the BBC. Abramovich’s puppet? It would likely give him free rein over team selection and affairs.
09:55 - “If the club decides to sack me because of bad results that is part of the game. If that happens I will be a millionaire and I will get another club a couple of months later.” - Mourinho circa January 2007.
Where next for Mourinho?
10:05 - The Daily Mail reckons Mourinho’s in for a £20m payout. Bookmakers are taking bets on him becoming the next England manager, though Portugal at 2/1 is strong favourite. 16/1 Mourinho replaces Martin Jol at Spurs.
10:57 - The Daily Telegraph profiles Avram Grant.
11:15 - Avram Grant and Steve Clarke will take charge of the first team from today: “Chelsea Football Club can confirm that Avram Grant and Steve Clarke will be in charge of the first team from today (Thursday). The club is delighted that in Avram we have an experienced man who can come in immediately at this difficult time to help deliver our objectives. In Steve we have a Chelsea man and he will be a crucial part of the management team going forward. Avram and Steve have our full confidence and support.”
11:55 - The Daily Telegraph takes a look at some of the names who could fill Mourinho’s shoes.
12:05 - BBC Sport has a selection of Mourinho’s finest quotes since arriving at Chelsea from Porto.
“”Entertaining? Too much!” After the roller-coaster 3-2 win over Birmingham on the opening day of the season.”
12:49 - According to Sky Sports News, a “family source” has revealed that the Portuguese FA has already been in touch with Mourinho and a provisional agreement is believed to have been reached.
13:10 - Another profile of Avram Grant, this time on the BBC Sport website.
“Yoav Borowitz, a sports writer for Israeli daily newspaper Ha’aretz, said: “It’s almost unbelievable that he’s the manager of Chelsea.” The picture he paints of Grant is of somebody with very similar qualities and ethos as Mourinho.”
13:20 - Grant and Clarke: Their backgrounds.
14:10 - The BBC is reporting that Mourinho is in line to receive up to £25m in compensation. Lawyers for both sides are still working on the severance package that will include confidentiality clauses.
14:40 - Roman Abramovich and Avram Grant all smiles at first Chelsea training. Sickening.
16:02 - The King is Dead…
17:00 - The decline and fall of the Roman empire.
“At 5pm tonight, Chelsea TV will break into its usual schedule (ie endless repeats of reserve matches from 2003) for a dramatic two-hour news special from Stamford Bridge, “guest starring” Jason Cundy and Scott Minto. There’s certainly plenty to talk about - Roman Abramovich’s crass stupidity, the sheer punchability of Peter Kenyon’s cheekbones, and the fact that Chelsea are heading to the dogs faster than a sprinter addicted to greyhound-racing - but don’t be surprised if the club’s in-house organ prefers to stress Just How Great Everything Is At Stamford Bridge, probably to the sound of the Soviet national anthem on loop.”
17:05 - Open letter to Chelsea fans on the official club website.
“Jose did not resign and he was not sacked.”
22:45 - Statement from Mourinho released on the official club website.
“I am very proud of my work in Chelsea Football Club and I think my decision in May 2004 to come to England was an excellent one.
“It was a beautiful and rich period of my career. I want to thank all Chelsea FC supporters for what I believe is a never ending love story.
“I wish great success to the club, a club that will be forever connected to me for some historic moments.
“I wish the players happiness in football and in their family life.”
23:00 - All terms agreed: “Chelsea Football Club has reached agreement on all contractual arrangements with Jose Mourinho.”
That’s it, all over. It has been an emotional 24 hours.
Now go and read Jonathan’s tribute to Chelsea’s greatest ever manager.
Related links
- End of the road for gunslinger who played like an accountant
- Stamford Bridge job now a poisoned chalice
- Battle of wills always destined to end in acrimonious divorce
- Special One undone by aversion to adventure
- Posted at 12:34 AM · Permalink · Print · 6095 views · Last indexed by Google on the 11th May 2008
- Tags: Avram Grant, Chelsea, Jose Mourinho, Roman Abramovich
I wondered why Roman was laughing when Rosenborg scored,perhaps he knew this was going to happen.There was only going to be one winner.Money talks and Jose walks!
HA HA HA……Maybe he should go and join Spurs
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA….
Best manager in the league and he’s f*ck*d off!
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA….
Sad fucking day for the EPL - another cartoon that can not handle his own mirror image - who is next in this ever fragile deck of oil cards ?
Really bad news if it’s true…Hope it’s just a rumour
All I want to say now is…
I was wrong.
How did it come to this?
Perhaps it happened because Mourinho/Kenyon screwed up the Champs’ League squad - having sold at least two players in the summer who qualified as club trained(Johnson plus the keeper who went to Hibs) you only have 1 senior player (Terry) who qualifies. By comparison, Arsenal have about 7. As a result of the screw up, your squad had to be kept small and Ballack and Sinclair omitted. And it gets worse next year, the minimum quota for club trained players goes up to 4 (plus 4 who can have been trained elsewhere in England). What are you going to do? Re-sign Huth and Johnson?? Oh dear, not looking so good for you lot now is it???
A few hours ago I was sure there was no chance Jose would be going.
I was wrong.
How did it come to this? Was he pushed? Did he jump? Who will take over?
I was shocked when Vialli went a few games into the season, but this has definitely stunned me.
Jose has been our most successful manager, and although he polarised a lot of fans - even our own at times - his record cannot be erased. There will not be another special one, and please, NOT Avram Grant as the new manager.
A sad day that makes all the talk about a ‘big family’ sound hollow.
You know why the opposition fans will be gloating? because they know we’ve lost one of our biggest assets.
I’m disappointed that this has become a season of transition, if not a complete back-to-the-drawing-board exercise.
The tabloids will join the broadsheets in a mass ejaculation.
I still can’t believe it =(
It is beyond ma understanding why the special one could be leaving the club when we need him the most
Too true David,
Far and away the biggest asset that Chelsea have has now gone. I think it is very short-sighted of the board to push him out.
Really sad day for our club if the news is confirmed.
Worse still…. I have a horrible feeling that Jose will end up at Tottenham!!!
hahahahahahahahaha
Stamford Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down
Stamford Bridge is falling down
oh dear Chelski!
MARTING JOL FOR CHELSEA JOB!! :)
I am shocked to read that Jose Mourinho could be resigning.
If he is resigning, does it mean that Chelsea does not need to pay off the remainder of his contract (which has almost 3 years to go)?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHH!
special one my arse, “my heart belongs to chelsea” ” i can’t see a future anywhere but chelsea until the end of my contract” what happened to all that “all for one, one for all ” mentality. when chelski were given a blank cheque to buy the prem jose was somehow seen as a great manager, especially by himself, now that a lot of teams have caught up with your spendin power and you’ve been shown up, he does a runner with a nice big pay off from roman. when the going gets tough, jose fucks off!!!!!!
hahahahaah
boss
liverpool for the league
It’s official - from CFC website:
“Chelsea Football Club and Jose Mourinho have agreed to part company today (Thursday) by mutual consent.”
That’s it, no explanation or detail.
Perhaps it’s time your club’s obsession with your sugar daddy’s cash came to an end, and CFC returned to being a football club.
quiet thread this isn’t?
wonder why………
maybe romeo and moanio had a row trying to find out out why you couldnt flog all your tickets for a champions league match , even at half price.
you’ll be selling tickets in poundland next year
this has to be the worst sacking ever…despite our lackluster form i doubt anyone will motivate terry lampard and co. like mourinho did :(
Charles, I agree, who else has the potential to inspire? Maybe it’s just as well the transfer window is closed, or we could find ourselves without a couple of the true believers deciding they’d rather stick with Jose.
WHAT THE FUCKING HELL!? I’m sorry for the swear, but I just can’t believe it! The mananger who transformed this club from a PIECE OF TRASH into an EUROPEAN FORCE is gone!?
WHO!? AVRAM GRANT, OUR NEXT MANAGER!? Kiss my fucking ass he’ll win us anything. God, now that I realise it, Chelsea are fucking screwed, and it’s coz of stupid Abramovich.
I still cant believe it….
I woke up in a cold sweat after a nightmare that Jose had left Chelsea and Avram Grant was appointed his successor - only to find out it’s probably true! When Bates left, I wondered if the bizarre management changes would end, but it appears not.
uccessful clubs have continuity. Man Utd were never going to sack Fergie even when they were struggling and he seemed to have lost the plot a couple years back. They have done ok since. We are still level with them now even after a disappointing start to the season for both teams, but Fergie will not be leaving.They had Rooney and Ronaldo out, we have had probably worse injury problems with Drogba, Lamps, Carvalho out in particular - yet we dominated most games this season. Will we find anyone better than Jose?
Reckon there will be a loud reverberation of ‘Jose Mourinho’ around the stadium at the next home game.
So, who will we get? Grant? No thanks! Capello or Mancini - no thanks! Ramos? Klinsmann? No thanks! God only knows. Hopefully Hughes
What a lovely day……
What a laughing stock the bridge is. Mouridiot bought the league, playing dull defensive football and claimed he is special - spending 500 million, let’s be honest it shouldn’t be that difficult.
The fans don’t even show up, it’s probably going to be a good thing that the over inflated ego has gone - he hasn’t really achieved much in his time that any other average manager could have with 500 Mil.
Roman is your next issue now - who ever pick up the reins will need instant success or the Bridge could turn into a merry go round like Madrid. (a complete farce minus the hisrtory)
Omlete anyone?
Well in my last 2 posts I forecast this would happen. It’s happened 4-6 weeks sooner than I thought.
I’m delighted and look forward to enjoying my football again.
Up the Blues.
I hate to say “i told you so” buthere’s my post Rosenborg comment
“So, I’ll be controversial here, but unless an improvement occurs very soon (can’t see us winning on Sunday) then I reckon RA will exercise his autocratic supreme power and the axe will fall on The Special One. I still think he can turn things to the better, but I don’t own the club and hold the purse strings. Something is not quite right as was the case last year and I fear/anticipate we have much more to come.”
I’m stunned by this because despite that comment I feel JM deserves respect for where he has taken us. However, there is no doubt that this season has been mediocre at best and I can’t help feeling that something in the dressing room, the whole team spirit is not what it was when we first won the PL. Maybe the hunger’s gone, maybe ego’s are at play, who knows? All I know is Man Utd on Sunday becomes a real nightmare potentially and I for one would settle for a draw. I’m drawing my list now, but Jonathan Legard on 5 Live has already stated he has heard that Didier Deschamps is being lined up. More later after I’ve digested this huge lump of gristly news.
I can’t fucking beleive it. Why couldn’t they work it out? Thank you Jose for everything you’ve done for us and i’m well sorry to see you go. PLEASE COME BACK.
K/T/B/F/F/H
FC “Heart of Midlothian” Chelsea.
It´s a shame for the Premier League!
RedDave,
“quiet thread this isn’t?
wonder why………”
It was fucking 2.30am you wanker fuck off!
COME ON CHELSEA, LETS BEAT MANURE FOR JOSE.
Looking at the comments on the various sites there are a lot of angry, sad, confused and yes, even a few delighted fans of the club out there today.
I’m still finding it hard to think of a manager that will win the same amount in three years and add the CL to that.
I suppose I’ll eventually join the “Oh well, we’ve seen it before, life goes on etc.” brigade, but if anyone can point to reasons for optimism it might help.
Right now I think we’ll struggle to qualify for the CL next year. A new coach and probably players in and out of the revolving door in January means no stability or cohesion till next season.
My Goodness…..
Jose is the Best. He transformed Chelsea and gained so many supports worldwide.
Roman is Silly and Mad !!
Wake up Roman !!!
We we loose our unbeaten home record Roman is to blame!
I think his hand was forsed and he didn’t want to leave but Chelsea left him no option.
K/T/B/F/F/H
Deschamps?? I hardly think that Abramovich will go for a former Juventus manager if he is aspiring towards free flowing attacking football somehow! We will see.
Just on one side issue - bit of a conspiracy theory. With the trouble Scolari has been in recently, I wonder if the Portuguese FA have been ‘tapping-up’ Jose with a view to him becoming the Portugal coach in the near future. It will be interesting to see where he goes - I believe in the summer he said he would stay in London whatever, even if it meant managing Crystal Palace! Watch out Peter Taylor! Can’t imagine Jose will be short of offers, and he may get one from the FA if we lose in Moscow in October.
Too little to late!
Why let him rip apart the best team in europe first, then sack him? Where is crespo, … is Robben, … is Duff, … is Gallas, ….Gudjohnson…?
Kenyon and Drogba should be the next out, in order to complete this restructuring. And after spending so much you can’t make an omelette?
I am absolutely shocked to hear the news. It’s just three games: two draws and one loss, and that goes our top manager who wins two premiereships, 1 FA cup and two league cups plus that community shield.
My best wishes to Jose Mourinho, who did a fantastic job but not appreciated by his boss.
I do admit that some good players have left Chelsea, the biggest lost being Gallas. But still, people, it’s Mourinho! How can any Chelsea fan be delighted with his departure. Chelsea seem to be in turmoil at the moment. And The Sun are pissing me off with their story of Jose leaving because of a bust up with Terry. God, get more imaginative, people.
Madness.
Abramovich has turned the management of the football club into a committee which he heads.
Who is Avram Grant?
For the owner clearly losing 4-3 is more enetertaining than winning trophies.
When we look back 5 years from now we will view these last 3 years as the golden period.
Grant does not have the profile or the CV to suggest he can lead a top 4 premiership club - we only have to look at Tottenham to see that you can have a tallented squad but it ain’t worth SH*t if you leader is mediocre.
This decision I would rank on a par with Howard Wilkinsons’ decision to sell Eric Cantona to Man Utd.
Madness.
Villa Fan
Unbelievable! In his short time here, he has undoubtedly made CFC ‘his’ club, in the same way as you would say that Fergie is Utd and Wenger is Arsenal.
Its the knock on effect that all footy fans will be waiting to see now, and whilst i dont want to disrespect the players, i would allow myself a wry smile if things dont turn out as the owner expects them to. This is a bad bad move by the board.
Best of luck to all you Chelsea guys, im gonna miss the special one, coz believe me, he is special!.
Chuckie
West Mids
Grant has been names as manager until the end of the season…
Anyone want my season ticket?
I give him until christmas
bad news. while we are mulling the permutations for the coming game, lets also loudly wonder who would take over. Mourinho was a man of his own vision and i dont think he couldve taken any crap from anyone, but i can help but think that, thats exactly what Ambrmvch was offering him.
i was prepared to take a slump from Mourinho, after all he never really slumped, did he? last season was not a slump in my book because he had to make do with what he had. his men were injured. this season has not even started yet. if you are using Rosenborg to judge Mourinho then thats really unfair, we did not play badly, we just did not score. and Mourinho couldnt walk in there and put the ball in the net as he rightly said afterwards.
as for the first few games in the premiership, we are no different to Man U. so who cares?
i am very sure Mourinho wouldve been more worried than everyone else. he was a winner and he wouldve been really miffed to be currently performing badly. i was expecting things to turn around. because of the sheer mental strenght the man has.
Who is Avram Grant? asks Peter.
I haven’t a clue either but they also asked “Who is Arsene Wenger?” so we need to keep an open mind.
The BBC are saying “Grant will be named as the new manager at Stamford Bridge later today…”
Almost guiding Israel to the World Cup isn’t what I’d anticipated as the pedigree of someone to replace The Departed One.
@ Henry, I don’t think Jose ripped the team apart.
Crespo wanted to go back to Italy for family reasons.
Gallas and Robben wanted more money.
Duff and Gudjohnsen wanted to stay but not as squad players.
Would you please your hands together for the new real madrid!
I feel like tearing my head off.
Why did Roman have to wait until now to suck JM?
My predictions, Avran will be sucked after sunday, then steve clark the other weekend, then who comes,Eugene and the club will become, what? an ivestment bank.
Oh boy the other face of being owned by some guy,we will just have to leave with it.
No top coach is going to get others from some guy just because he is the owner and so the period of moaning begins.Luckly enough we have been here before so i guess we will be alright.
Yes we should keep an open mind but Grants only qualification appears to be the endorsment from Harry Rednapp that he is a good bloke.
Menzies Campbell (who?) seems like a good bloke but I wouldn’t want him running the country thank you very much.
There’s nothing on the official sight to indicate Grant has been appointed (thank God).
It is a real case of ‘who is he’.
I’ll keep an open mind over the appointment of a new manager, as Grant is a distinct possibility. However, if he stays, why not Steve Clarke ???
Mark Hughes would be a tremendous appointment IMO.
They also asked ‘who is Les Reed’?
We need someone who the players respect and who can galvanize team spirit and get us working together again. Boost morale, like Jose did 3 years ago by applauding the players off the pitch after somehow losing to Man City. I’d still go for Mark Hughes.
Well, I have to eat my words. Munch munch. Yuck.
Insane that Abramovich and the suits have done this. The black mark against Ranieri was that “he’d never won anything big”, so even though he was putting a pretty decent team together, out he went. In comes the bright young thing of European football, and proceeds to win everything. (Okay, not the big one, but you need luck to win the CL, the real sign of how well we were doing was the fact that every year under José we went deep into the competition.) But now that’s not enough either. Abramovich obviously wants something “better” — how much better does he think it’s going to get? Grant won’t last long (I hope), and whoever is next will be measured by the standards of what José achieved, so they’re unlikely to last long either. Hmm, sounds like a good way to run a club, doesn’t it? Idiots.
The suits obviously panicked after Tuesday night. Okay, we were poor. So? Say either Malouda or Kalou had scored instead of hitting the post, would this crisis meeting have happened? Right, so we force out the manager because of six inches of swerve on the ball.
Add in the rumours about Ronaldinho and it’s depressingly reminiscent of the way Real Madrid is run.
It’s going to be interesting seeing how the suits try to spin this. Not sure I can bear to listen to Kenyon, who is and always has been the epitome of a ManU fan (oily, smug, wetting himself about the “glamour” while munching his prawn sandwiches).
Looking forward to the 29th.
My heart is broken! Mourinho is a Chelsea legend and I wish him well. Maybe one day he will be England manager…
As an outsider looking in (I suppport Wolves) this is a terrible, terrible loss not only to Chelsea but the Premiership as a whole. What a character he’s been and a wonderful addition to the Premiership road show. The league is poorer without him in it. Awful decision.
Avram Grant….who he? Sorry but I am hoping this isn’t true because this man is a no-mark in the world of football and patently does not have the pedigree to run a club like ours or to perform at the highest level in World football. I’ve said it before, but who in the world is better than TSO? Name me one manager today with a better record? It is absolute madness.
I have a list
of sorts but truly none of them come close to TSO.
Klinsmann - unproven but intelligent and media friendly
Deschamps - loyal to Juve and a good option if immediate success can be sidelined
Hiddinck - good international record but a bit old?
Capello - George Grahams long lost cousin. Would bore us to death.
Hughes - a good young coach who has done well at Blackburn. I wouldn’t complain but doubt he could work under RA.
Juande Ramos - has done well at Sevilla but knows this would be a step up
Frank Rijkaard - a good proven coach but after the crap he threw at us I am not sure I could accept him, especially if he bought the filthy spitting cheat E’to with him.
One thing……I wonder what the odds were on TSO being the first PL manager to go? I might just start doing a tenner on the Chelsea coach, whoever it is, each year because I am guaranteed to win every few seasons.
Dear Jose,
Even me as a Liverpool fan will miss you. Your style and the way u talk will always be remembered by us. Just hope that you will join us as a joint manager with Rafa. You will be manager for the BPL matches and Rafa will take charge of Europe. Haha.
Madness, and very sad. But we did it Sexton, McCreadie, Gullit and Vialli so it was inevitable we’d do it to Jose.
Did you know that Avram Grant was an anagram of ‘we’re fucked’.
So TSO is gone and now another era begins…
He will be missed for the “both sides of the coin” experience.
He was loved and loathed
Feared but hated
shrewed but reckless
He will be remembered but Chelsea lives on…
Chelsea Chelsea Chelsea
Chelsea Chelsea Chelsea
He who pays the piper calls the tune - its that simple. JM got on the wrong side of RA and there’s only ever going to be one winner in that contest.
Having said that JM has brought Chelsea so much success and its sad to see so little loyalty from the board.
Grant is keeping the seat warm for Hiddink or one of the many others mentioned.
Note to gloating ManUre and Liverpool fans. If you think life with the Glazers and Gillettes will be any different you are in for a big wake up call. Once the yanks or Russians get hold of Arsenal you guys are in for the same treatment too. As usual at Chelsea we are just ahead of our time!
Tony G….
You forgot to mention Marcelo Lippi, has been learning English for two years now and i hear is pretty good. Don’t rule him out. World cup winner!
Half of me is absolutely gutted JM has gone! The other half feels like a weight has been released as last year i didn’t think we were clicking and this year i just haven’t felt any confidence in us! Maybe it was time he left, maybe he needed more time. Who knows, but whatever…thanks Jose, good luck with everything just don’t ever…EVER go anywhere near North London!!
Just remembered this from last night, but as I watched Sky Sports before the Champs Leaguie games, they reviewed our game, and Richard ‘The Human Hair Ball’ Keys stated that the odds on Jose getting sacked were 250/1 at the start of the season, 20/1 before kick off vs Rosenborg and 10/1 last night.
Grant is a no mark and no mistake. The problem I see (other than the fact there’s no-one anywhere near as good as Jose) is who would want the job ???
This debacle just shows all the baggage and sh*t that goes with managing Chelsea, decent managers wont give it a second look. We’ll be left with Grant; the untried Clarke etc as the only options because of the ludicrous hierarchy that’s been created at the club.
Why is there a need for ‘Director of Football’. Correct me if I’m wrong (probably) but ManUSA, Arsenal and Liverpool all seem to get along fine without one.
Arnesen’s had a job for a year or more, and we’re yet to see the fruits of the world-beating youngsters he’s being paid to find. Personally, I think Kenyon is half the problem. There’s just something about him that comes across as viewing Chelsea as a financial vehicle for him, and not the beloved club it is to us fans.
Oh, and thanks to some of the opposition fans for their more understanding comments - it’s appreciated.
Interesting that the ones that don’t get it tend to be Gooners, Mancs and Scousers (arshad excepted, cos he was funny) who live on a different football planet than the rest of us and whose lives are poorer because of it, not that they’ll ever understand what I mean by that.
My final thought, before I cry into my keyboard again.
How about Jose to replace McLaren ???
Fans from every club say he’ll be missed in England. McLaren is about as useful as a rump steak at a vegetarian convention.
Jose for England !!!!
As a few of you have said; there is no one in the world who can replace The Special One. What were they thinking letting him go? It’ll be another season or two before we win anything now. The players loved and respected Jose, they will grudge Roman, Kenyon and the next new manager!!!
K/T/B/F/F/H
I don’t think it would make a great difference what the fans want at this moment in terms of who we’d want to take over. The reality of the business is that once the owners and those who run the club make their decision we can either support or, for the sake of the club, reserve judgment (if in truth we instinctively disagree). Roman and his tinkermen constituency have earned the right to act like spoilt little dictators. Football is possibly the only business where their kind can have such luxury. But as fans, we aren’t exactly powerless. No matter who buys or owns Chelsea, lock, stock and the damn smoking barrel, the soul of the club has no price! The real democracy is therefore embedded in that idea – the idea that a piece of the soul of the club resides within every single fan of the club where Roman’s shekels make no blinking difference. Yes, he’s in charge now making all the decisions, we the fans are the sentinels of the soul of the club waiting at every gate!
But we must be realistic. Our primary role as fans is to ensure that any type of disruption (be it self-induced or imposed from the outside) must not be allowed to compromise our hunt for glory (yes, in a way we’re all glory-hunters!). No matter the rights and wrongs of Jose’s leaving, one clear thing it says is that the club demand and want instant success on all fronts. If we sacked Ranieri after coming second in the league (after years of underachievement) and then now severe ties with Jose after winning the league twice, the Carling Cup twice, the FA Cup and twice almost getting to the final of Champions League – all in three years, what that tells us is that whoever is taking over now has to do better. The Chelsea job is the most lethal job in world football and anyone is welcome to it as far as they can improve on what Jose has achieved in three years. Okay, Roman has played his dangerous hand and we have ‘mourned’ the loss of The Special One, but now we have to be as clear-eyed as we were when he took over. We have to give him and those who’ve thought up this coup an opportunity to prove they’re right, which means we have to give them time. They have set such a high standard for themselves and all we can do is hold them to it.
As for Jose, a piece of him, like the piece of every great manager in any club, will always remain with us – no matter where he goes from hence. But such is the nature of things that we must move on holding fast to our colours and our banner even as our General stands down! Thus, whether they appoint Avram to the job on a temporary or permanent basis, while he’s in charge, he must have our full support. We are not supporting him because we don’t love Jose anymore, we’re supporting him because we love our club and hope that whatever is happening at the boardroom level does not have much negative impact on our fortunes on the field. These times call for fans with spirit and character. We should stand by the team as we face our biggest challenge of the season at Old Trafford. That is the best place to show that the news of the death of the Blue Army has been hugely exaggerated.
So, while some of us protest privately or publicly the loss of Jose, we should be calm and supportive of our great club as we get more news of exactly what went down.
Avram Grant or whoever is in charge, all we ask is that you lead us to glory!
CHEERS!
I fear that Lampard maybe leaving too. He might have known the possibility of Jose’s departure and didn’t sign a new contract. And then Drogba may follow suit… OMG! This is getting unthinkable, just like Northern Rock!
All of our players are hungry for the Champions League victory. If they don’t get it i’m not sure they’ll stick around.
Although we’re getting a raw deal here i think we should all try and be more positive.
I also beleive consistancey is required, Man U have held on to Fergy through thick and thin and it gives a real sence of stability within the club.
BRING BACK JOSE
BRING BACK JOSE
BRING BACK JOSE!
K/T/B/F/F/H
Official site have confirmed Grant and Clarke are in charge of the first team ‘from today’.
But no-one seems to know if it’s just for Sunday (Sky) or to the end of the season (BBC) when ‘first choice’ Guus Hiddink is available.
I am an avid reader and blogger on this site and have always ended by comments with:
God Bless Roman’s Blue Army.
After today’s madness - I will no longer end with those words. I am so angry and depressed today - don’t know where to start with my rant, so won’t bother.
Fuck em all, Fuck em all. We are the chelsea so fuck all the rest!!
It must be temporary, as Pat Nevin says he’s about as welcome as Camilla at Diana’s memorial. I think they know who they want long term but the timing has been poor and so they have to wait. It woul;d have been easier to do this after the FA Cup Final and then see which heads are turned.
Grant won’t see it past Christmas.
Let’s don’t get carried away with speculating on the why’s and how’s. And let’s take it on the chin from the usual wind up merchants…they deserve their bit of fun, after all we’ve done to disrupt their world in the last three years. The simple, indisputable fact underlying it all is easy to deduce and has been apparent for a while. Roman wants to win in a flamboyant, attacking style and Jose would never deliver that. There’s nothing more to it. As long-term Chelsea fans who have lived through bigger crises than this, we can only hope he gets his way.
Thanks for the memories, Jose.
Most fans go a lifetime without the sort of success we have managed in the last 3 years.
Mourinho was an abvious appointment. Grant is not and if Abramovich thinks he knows anything about football and starts trying to do anything other than plough money in then Chelski really are fucked.
Chelsea is my club, has always been my club and will always be my club, the players and management need our support now- this OUR club, thank you Jose, God bless and goodbye, wishing you much success and happiness in your future. Thank you.
gutted for you lot… really am
What a load of Bollocks!!!
Avram Grant, we’re a damn laughing stock we are…
Someone needs to take over who has some ort of pedigree, not this bloody non entity…
Just a thought - Kenyon has been very vocal in his recent support for TSO, so has he changed his mind or was he outvoted? If the latter then surely his position is also now untenable?
Is he gutted? Or is he a smarmy, oily, backstabbing Man Utd lowlife scumbag who has mastered the businessman’s art of smiling whilst he shakes your hand before he sticks the knife in your back.
I wish he would go. The day is getting blacker with each passing minute. Avram Fucking Grant indeed…..from charismatic, successful, young coach to fat, old, unproven, corporate blow-job giving yes man. You couldn’t make it up.
As Jim Royle would say “My Arse”
And yes, I am getting ANGRIER. My calm personae for today is rapidly departing faster than a Eurostar to Brussels. More to come …..
i am totally gutted roman abromavich this is the biggest mistake you will ever make as most fans knw jose is the best manager in the world and there is no absolutely no1 who can fill his shoes he not only won us trophies bt brought us support throughout the world the blues are definiately not going to be succeful in the post jose era and this avram grant does not even qualify to be a midtable manager he is only there because he is romans friend bt i am sure with this guy we will finsh the season empty handed once again chelsea fans will always love you jose!!you brought us wat no other manager ever can….wish you the best of luck nd hopefully you will replace mclaren at england
We have to keep our heads up now he´s gone, tough game at the weekend but we must keep the blue flag flying high we are chelsea and we will not be beat down.
I never thought I would say or even think this being a supporter for over 40 years, but part of me hopes we get hammered on Sunday and we lose our home record to Fulham next Saturday plus Valencia beat us as well. The sooner this no hoper Grant is shown the door the happier I’ll feel.
I just think we have another Christian Gross who’s effectively bullshitted his way into a job that is way above his capabilities.
I hope I’m wrong I hope we don’t continue to be the laughing stock of the football world, but nothing good is going to come from this.
And a little message to Roman… you will fast lose the support of the majority of Chelsea fans if this appointment comes back to bite you on your arse!
I’m sorry to sound full of doom and gloom but I’m angry and feel like crap at the moment, but as a true fan and supporter still love Chelsea and always will.
what the hell is happenin at chelsea….absolutely gutted this mornin wen i flicked on teletext only to find out mourinho is gone and bloody avram grant is takin over! what a joke! we’ll be doin well to make it into the top four this season wiv him in charge! hope grant feels proud of himself…was clear from the beginning he wanted jose’s job. Grant’s relationship with abramovich destabilised the club and now we’ll basically have a yes man for abramovich running the club…..i’m sure shevchenko and ballack will play every week now!
thanks for everything jose…you’ll always be remembered as the best manager in CFC history
Well said Clive!!!! AVram will definatley get a welcome at the bridge, of that he can be certain! This backdtabber has weasled his way into behind Jose and you could see his Knife sticking it in! Well he will be in for a shock all through the next home game of that he can be sure! The sooner he Fucks off the better!! And I have NEVER used that langauge on a website so I apologize to all my Chelsea colleagues.
oh yes i think mourinho just helped relief himself from the shame and embarassment he was just about to face this season .the team had just lost grip and looked to have run out of ideas like wise mour himself.other teams have already learned how to beat us or grind results from us and he was not just mutating his style i mean his substitutions had become so predictable . when down he would just throw a center half forward hoping it would work.respect though at times it worked ! i think he lacked an ex-factor in the team in lampard and drogbas abscence! his time was up the media issue is just some shit on the stick stuff liverfool play twice as boring as chelski ! who doesnt know ? truth be told i dont think chelski will need mourinho maybe for motivational purposes!clearly that is what they have always lacked! they can still beat any team on any day! they beat barca with mour on the dugout..they have so much talent but…..we just need a decent pacy center half and a decent pacy forward no more .think on the bright side we may also win despite his depature
Well lets say it wasn’t unexpected. Roman wants beautiful attacking winning football for everyone to love, Jose gives us pragmatic winning football with attitude. Whether Avam Grant can deliver Romans dream is open to question - I haven’t a clue, nor does anybody else. Opinion seems to be divided amongst people who know him - either he is a gifted manager or a complete buffoon, we will all soon find out. Personally, I think Jose will end up , very soon, at Spuds - and will enjoy playing Mr Grant (if he is still around on January 12th)very much. I can’t say I am looking forward it much!
Clive - we all felt the same after Vialli got the boot remember? Lots of parrallels to that departure I think.
It was interesting to see the poll running on Sky Sports website this morning about who people wanted as the new manager.
Grant was way, away out behind with 6%. Steve Clarke had 10%, Capello was favourite with 45%-odd.
I’m afraid things are only going to get worse before they get better. This bloke has the footballing pedigree of Stephen Hawking (that maybe a tad harsh on Mr Hawking). His arrival at Portsmouth seems to have been as popular as the one at the Bridge and, no disrespect to Israeli domestic football, but winning a couple of titles hardly makes him a legend. And let’s not get started on ‘nearly’ qualifying for the World Cup. They failed. With Switzerland in the group.
I can see what Clive’s getting at in that bad results should lead to him losing the job, but he’s just weaseled his way into one of the best managers jobs in football. I bet he’s got a tasty little contract ready to be upgraded now he’s ‘manager’. 5 years at £4m or something stupid - more expense to pay off when his managerial frailties are exposed. In about 3 weeks time.
It’s been a wretched few weeks to be a Chelsea fan, with probably the worst game of the season on Sunday, things look like they’ll continue.
Still, Hull away in the Carling Cup next week……
Peter,
Vialli did not bring us back to back trophies and 6 in all plus pushed uus to the top of the tree in world football talked about every day by everyone. Neither did Ranieri, even though he was a nice man as they say! There are many billionaires out there coming out of the woodwork who would want Chelsea so who would you prefer, Roman as to any other rich magnate or one of the bst mangagers in world football at this time which Jose proved with very little money before he joined Chelsea. Billionaires are plenty these days, Mourinho’s are not!!
HEAR YEE! HEAR YEE!
There is an Anti-Avram protest outside the Bridge tonight at 6pm. Tell all and make efforts to attend.
K/T/B/F/F/H
This is a bad day for chelsea supporters and a wonderfull day for the other teams…Goodbay sir José Mourinho
Peter I was never convinced that Vialli was a long term solution to Chelsea progressing to become a major force. He was a nice guy and won us a few trophies, but I thought he took us as far as he could. When Raneiri took over I was even less convinced, again a nice guy but as Kenyon mentioned in our new DVD didn’t quite have what it takes for the next level.
Of course I would love us to hit the ground running under Grant and win the league this year along with “old big ears” but in all honesty who really thinks that’s likely to happen?
Fuck I’d rather have Sven in charge at the moment, at least he’s doing something right at City.
Right I’m off for a lie down in a dark room with decent bottle of Portuguese Red!
It’s the biggest mistake chelsea could make! MOURINHO PLEASE COME BACK!!!
Sorry guys but got to let this out here….
fuck fuck fuck fuck FFFUUUUUCCCCKKKK…
Now I feel better….
farewell TSO you will be missed…ABout this Avram protest how do I join????
Bringing in Hiddink or Lippi would mean bringing in someone with European pedigree, experience and winning mentality. But Roman decides to pick fucking Avram the fatty? Somebody save us.
“There are only two ways for me to leave Chelsea. One way is in June 2010 when I finish my contract and if the club doesn’t give me a new one. It is the end of my contract and I am out. The second way is for Chelsea to sack me. The way of the manager leaving the club by deciding to walk away, no chance! I will never do this to Chelsea”
Thanks José, it seems you have done exactly that…
Hate to get a tad contravertial here, but this is just another example of ‘Pro-semitism’ in the world of the rich and powerful…
What a dumb move, trading jose for avram is like going from Ferrari to Fiat, But I suppose its good for Shevi. If J.M goes to portugal like he says then we should get Scolari!
I think Capello would definitely be the best successor for you. Did a good job at Real Madrid and didn’t get the credit he deserved. Should also sort out some of the reported egos in the dressing room.
Not sure who Abramovich will go for though; He seems to be quite pally with Grant.
The fact that Mourinho leaves and, rumour has it, is immediately bombarded with job offers from some of the top clubs in Euorpe, shows he is one of the best managers in the game. If anyone was going to take a team forward, it would be him. Don’t think him and Roman had seen eye-to-eye ever since the Ballack and Shevchenko signings though.
Sad for the game but good for all other clubs, though i don’t think it will be long till we see him again.