Chelsea coach backs Costa, Fabregas to beat boo boys

However, I am sure we can all turn this season around.

Mourinho spent the day watching Middlesbrough, coached by Aitor Karanka, his assistant at Real Madrid, playing at Brighton and Hove Albion in the second-tier Championship while 75km away his former charges finally produced a display worthy of champions, having lost nine of their first 16 league matches.

Despite the controversy surrounding Mourinho and Chelsea this season, the Portuguese is likely to be in high demand.

And Terry believes that with performances like this, the fans will be back on side, but understands their current frustrations.

Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck said the decision to fire Mourinho had been hard and club owner Roman Abramovich and the board “anguished over it for some time”. “Chelsea is such a big club and we are not used to being down here”.

Blues fans, although devastated to lose Joe Mourinho, will have been pleased with the club’s choice for this role after previously experiencing unhappy spells under Avram Grant and Rafa Benitez.

“I have a great group of players that are friends and work very hard for each other”, manager Claudio Ranieri said.

Chelsea technical director Michael Emenalo said “palpable discord between manager and players” was a factor in Mourinho’s dismissal, but Terry said player unrest was not the reason for his departure.

Ivanovic’s header from Willian’s corner gave him his first goal of the campaign and just eight minutes later, Chelsea scored their second. The home fans in the 41,000-strong crowd rose to their feet for a couple of minutes in an ovation to him.

The two-time Chelsea boss branded Carneiro “naive” for rushing onto the pitch to treat Eden Hazard in the dying stages of the 2-2 home draw with Swansea on August 8. Another placard said: “Our Jose sacrificed, why?” Many booed again when he was substituted, as they did when midfielder Cesc Fabregas was taken off.

Tottenham moves fourth, above United on superior goal difference. Mourinho who earned £8.5million a year, which include a pay-rise based on his performance.

“When I played and we had a bad game then the players got it. Today, if the players don’t win a game then the manager gets it – he got his tactics wrong, the XI he picked wasn’t right”. It’s not a dip in form.

A reindeer is seen outside Stamford Bridge on Saturday prior to Chelsea’s Premier League contest against Sunderland.

Pedro was one of the goal scorers as Chelsea defeated Sunderland 3-1 in the club’s first game after the sacking of Jose Mourinho.

But the manager who always took such delight in aiming insults and slurs at Arsene Wenger could still have a say in the title race and he could still stop his rival from lifting the EPL trophy at the end of the season.

Not everyone was so sympathetic towards Mourinho.