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Thursday football
20 September 2007
by Jerrad Peters

Chelsea have sacked manager Jose Mourinho

IN a sensational conclusion to a bizarre week at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have parted ways with manager Jose Mourinho. The decision was made around dinnertime, Wednesday, and confirmed in a statement by the club early Thursday morning. Director of Football Avram Grant will take charge of the club on a temporary basis, although a host of high-profile names have already been linked with the vacancy.

Wednesday's lacklustre 1-1 draw at home to Norwegian side Rosenborg in the Champions' League proved the final straw for Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. Keen to see his club succeed in European competition, Abramovich berated Mourinho when the two met on Wednesday afternoon. By that evening, when Chelsea were scheduled to screen their Blue Revolution DVD at a theatre on Fulham Broadway, Mourinho and the entire squad arrived at the venue without the usual entourage of Abramovich, Peter Kenyon, Eugene Tanenbaum, and Bruce Buck. The quartet, as it turns out, were holding crisis talks in regards to Mourinho's future.

Mysteriously, Mourinho had knowledge of his sacking before arriving at the theatre. At approximately 6:00pm, he called midfielder Frank Lampard and informed him of the news. He sent text messages to John Terry and Didier Drogba shortly thereafter. News of his sacking was widespread by midnight and prompted an official statement from the club just prior to 2:00 Thursday morning. Mourinho adressed the entire Chelsea squad at their training ground today before being whisked away in a black limousine -- his face hidden behind the turned-up collar of his famous trench-coat.

In another twist, reports have surfaced, today, surrounding a bust-up with captain John Terry earlier in the week. With Mourinho questioning the quality of his skipper's recent performances, he approached the club's medical staff and inquired as to Terry's health and fitness. Terry, upon catching wind of Mourinho's investigation, became outraged and confronted the manager. The two are said to have clashed before and after the Rosenborg debacle. Word of the scuffle reached the club's board of directors on Tuesday night and is said to have played a part in the decision-making process.

What is certain is that Abramovich has been hunting for a reason to pink-slip Mourinho for some while. Their relationship initially became strained after Christmas, 2006, when Mourinho requested funds to buy a pair of defenders. With injuries to Petr Cech, Ricardo Carvalho, Ashley Cole, and John Terry, Chelsea were dropping points at a critical juncture in the season and eventually lost their title to Manchester United.

Mourinho's bafflement at the owner's refusal to open the purse-strings was brought about by the big money spent on Andriy Shevchenko the previous summer. And with Shevchenko struggling to find his form in the Premier League, he appeared to have a point.

Abramovich, on the other hand, blamed Mourinho for not getting the best out of his 30M-pound striker and viewed the manager's reluctance to play Shevchenko as a direct affront to his authority. In response, he brought personal friend Avram Grant to Chelsea in the role of Director of Football. As the position had not previously existed at the club, Mourinho saw the hiring as a way for Abramovich to circumvent his decisions surrounding the squad.

Chelsea's transfer activity over the past summer also hinted at unrest at Stamford Bridge. Where Abramovich had once been willing to shell-out the money on big-name stars, he suddenly locked the vault. Mourinho was provided just enough money to secure Florent Malouda from Olympique Lyonnais. Each of Steve Sidwell, Claudio Pizarro, and Tal Ben Haim were acquired via free transfers.

As petty as it sounds, the whole brouhaha between Abramovich and Mourinho had more to do with Shevchenko than anything else. Had the 30-year-old Ukrainian striker fit into the squad and into the manager's plans, Abramovich would have gone on another summer shopping-spree and Mourinho would be safe in his job.

As it happens, the decision to hire Avram Grant was also centered around Shevchenko. Grant and Abramovich are of the same mind -- in as much as Grant will act as the puppet proxy-manager for his owner. And Grant's first mandate will be to fully encorporate Shevchenko into the starting-XI.

The strategy, coupled with the exit of the popular Mourinho, will likely spell the exits of several Chelsea mainstays. Lampard could be the first to go. He has persistently stalled over signing a new contract at the club and will probably we well inclined to join Mourinho wherever he lands. Didier Drogba could be headed out the door as well. And Ricardo Carvalho will not be far behind.

As for Mourinho, he will have the pick of the litter. Unless Tottenham Hotspur can turn things around before mid-October, there is soon to be a vacancy at White Hart Lane. Wouldn't Mourinho relish the opportunity to pip Chelsea in the standings while at the helm of their local rivals?

The most probable scenario would see the Setubal-born Mourinho find himself at the helm of the Portuguese national side. With Portugal sitting at third-spot in Qualification Group-A and current manager Luiz Felipe Scolari serving a four-match ban for his part in a scap with Serb defender Ivica Dragutinovic earlier this month, Mourinho could very well be called upon to see his nation through to Austria-Switzerland.

That prospect should have the whole of England scrambling for his services. After all, what would the 'Special One' enjoy more than knocking England out of EURO 2008?