Jose Mourinho has been shown the Stamford Bridge exit door for the second time after a meeting between Roman Abramovich and the club directors earlier tonight.
The final nail seemingly hit the coffin of the ‘Special One’ after this past weekend’s 2-1 loss against Leicester City, the ninth in a season which has the reigning Premier League champions currently sitting 16th on the table and just one point above the drop zone.
“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,” read an official statement released through the Chelsea website.
It is a decision that will come as a surprise to only the most dedicated of Chelsea fans, with signs that the infamous Portugese manager has been cracking under pressure clearly evident in recent months.
Disagreements with staff in the form of long-serving club doctor Eva Caniero and a recent blow-up with Diego Costa were symptomatic of a dressing room that had lost faith in its manager, while increasingly bizarre excuses given to the media following a defeat would have critics questioning his grip on reality.
“If the club want to sack me, they have to sack me because I am not running away from my responsibilities or my team,” said Mourinho after a 3-1 loss to Southampton in early October.
“If they sack me, they sack the best manager this club had.”
Jose Mourinho: Lost 12 matches in 25 matches in all competitions with Chelsea this season, as many as he’d lost in his previous 91 #cfc
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) December 17, 2015
Following the most recent defeat to Leicester, Mourinho claimed his players had “betrayed” his gameplan and while he also reiterated that he had no fear of his job security, clearly the last straws were dropping for Roman Abramovich.
Beginning his second reign in London at the beginning of 2013-14, a third place finish was followed by the dominance of last season, where Chelsea held top spot on the Premier League table from August until May en route to claiming their fifth English crown.
While no official replacement has yet been named, reports from The Telegraph indicate a deal has been made to bring former Australia and Netherlands national coach Guus Hiddink back to Chelsea as caretaker manager for the second-half of 2015-16.
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