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Chelsea sack manager José Mourinho after disastrous start to title defence Chelsea sack manager José Mourinho after disastrous start to title defence
(35 minutes later)
Chelsea have parted company with manager José Mourinho just seven months after guiding Chelsea to the Premier League title. The Portuguese returned to the club in 2013, but having sunk to 16th place in the table, the Stamford Bridge outfit have dismissed their manager. José Mourinho has been sacked by Chelsea. The manager has paid the price for the team’s dismal Premier League form and he has become the latest casualty of the Roman Abramovich era.
Mourinho’s side have lost nine league games this season, the worst defence of a Premier League title ever. The latest loss was to Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City, 2-1 at the King Power Stadium. Afterwards the 52-year-old took the unusual step of criticising his players. “I feel my work is betrayed,” he said. “I worked four days in training for this match. I identified four movements where Leicester score a lot of their goals and in two of the four situations I identified they scored their goals. I went through it all with the players, you can ask them.” The Chelsea owner has now dismissed eight managers since his takeover in 2003 but he had held off for as long as possible on Mourinho, and not only because he had given him a new four-year contract worth £250,000 a week, or £13m a year, in August.
After the defeat it had seemed a matter of when, not if, Chelsea’s owner Roman Abramovich would act, with the club in real danger of slipping into the relegation zone over the crowded festive period. Related: José Mourinho sacked by Chelsea – live updates!
When asked after the Leicester defeat if he could hold on to his job, Mourinho said: “The only thing I can say is that I want to. I have no doubts and I think you know me well enough, three years this time, plus three years another time, that I am not afraid of a big challenge, and in this moment this is a real big challenge. I want to stay, I hope Mr Abramovich and the board want me to stay.” Abramovich desperately wanted Mourinho to build upon last season’s title triumph but so bad has this season been that he knew he needed to act. Chelsea’s 2-1 loss at Leicester City on Monday night was a ninth defeat in 16 league matches and it left them just one point above the relegation zone.
Abramovich was equally concerned at Mourinho’s post-match comments, in which he said that his work had been “betrayed” by the players at the King Power Stadium. Mourinho said that they had failed to carry out his orders and it was tantamount to him saying that they had stopped listening to him.
Mourinho will now attempt to reach a settlement on his massive contract and attention has turned towards who will succeed him and be charged with the clean-up operation. The early favourite is Guus Hiddink, who worked as the caretaker manager at the club in 2009, after the sacking of Luis Felipe Scolari. Hiddink led the club to the FA Cup.
Chelsea released a statement a little after 3pm, saying that they wished “to make clear José leaves us on good terms”.
The full statement read: “Chelsea Football Club and José Mourinho have today parted company by mutual consent. All at Chelsea thank José for his immense contribution since he returned as manager in the summer of 2013.
“His three league titles, FA Cup, Community Shield and three League Cup wins over two spells make him the most successful manager in our 110-year history. But both Jose and the board agreed results have not been good enough this season and believe it is in the best interests of both parties to go our separate ways.
“The club wishes to make clear José leaves us on good terms and will always remain a much-loved, respected and significant figure at Chelsea. His legacy at Stamford Bridge and in England has long been guaranteed and he will always be warmly welcomed back to Stamford Bridge.
“The club’s focus is now on ensuring our talented squad reaches its potential.”
This is the end of Mourinho’s second stint in charge of the club – his first spell in charge of Chelsea ended in September of 2007, after winning the Premier League title in 2005 and 2006.This is the end of Mourinho’s second stint in charge of the club – his first spell in charge of Chelsea ended in September of 2007, after winning the Premier League title in 2005 and 2006.