He's gone! Mourinho leaves Chelsea

The shock of the day came just before mid-day. I hopped on to the internet to check the latest football news. Headlines such as "Jose Mourinho quits" & "Mourinho leaves Chelsea" screamed from the computer screen.

I was absolutely stunned. I mean, who would have expected this to happen? Jose Mourinho, regarded as one of the world's best football coaches, departs glamour London side Chelsea, apparently by mutual consent. Successful, controversial, often derided as cocky & arrogant, he is a colourful character & English football will be poorer for his departure. His verbal spats with rival coaches make interesting news reading. I, for one, will miss all that.

Mourinho apparently left because of a breakdown in relationships with Chelsea's owner, the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Mourinho brought success to the club, winning everything there is to win in English football: English Premier League titles (twice), the FA Cup & League Cup. The only thing that has eluded him at Chelsea is the UEFA Champions League (Mourinho has won this before, but as coach of FC Porto). It is the elusive Champions League trophy, together with a failure to get Chelsea to play the sexy attacking football that Abramovich wants, that marred the relationship.

Well, since Abramovich poured lots of money into the club, he expects nothing but the best. He expects instant results, & instant return on investment. Patience is pretty much in short supply. Mourinho may point to Chelsea's dominance in England during much of his tenure at the club as evidence of his managerial abilities. But Abramovich would say Mourinho hasn't brought the Champions League (which Abramovich's obsessed about) to the club. Moreover, Chelsea have not had the best of starts to the current season, & that would have soured Abramovich's feelings towards Mourinho.

Given that scenario, many felt that his departure was not such a huge surprise, as they could see it coming. What surprised them was the timing of his departure - only a few games into the season & there's plenty of time to get back on track. As stated earlier, Mourinho has left by mutual consent. So, he was not sacked. Nor did he resign. Mourinho & the club (especially Abramovich) reached a point where the working relationship had broken down, & this has negatively affected the team's performances. Hence it was time for him to go. Many Chelsea's fans would have been devastated by Mourinho's departure. Whoever replaces him will have a very tough act to follow - just look at Mourinho's list of honours:

With F.C. Porto:
Portuguese Championships (2): 2002/03; 2003/04
SuperCup Cândido de Oliveira: 2003
Cup of Portugal: 2002/03
UEFA Cup: 2002/03
UEFA Champions League: 2003/04

With Chelsea FC:
FA Premier League (2): 2004/05; 2005/06
Football League Cup (2): 2004/05, 2006/07
FA Cup: 2007
FA Community Shield: 2005