Jose Mourinho leaves Chelsea for 2nd time

“Chelsea Football Club and Jose Mourinho have today parted company by mutual consent”, a statement from the club read.

In May, Chelsea were celebrating their fourth Premier League title – three of which had been brought to the club across Mourinho’s two spells in charge.

Some suggested Tyneside as Mourinho’s next managerial destination – including our columnist Don Hutchison, although that was slightly tongue-in-cheek – while most bemoaned the lost of guaranteed points.

Last season, though, following the signings of Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa, Mourinho’s Chelsea ended up winning the Premier League with three games to spare.

According to numerous reports on Wednesday, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich led the club’s board in talks over Mourinho’s future.

Despite the poor performances in the Premier League, that have consequently made finishing in the top four a near impossible task, Mourinho has managed to safely guide his team to the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Mourinho openly criticised his medical staff for entering the field of play to treat an injured Eden Hazard on the opening game of the campaign, leading to an legal battle between Chelsea and former club doctor Eva Carneiro.

His sacking signals a remarkable fall from grace for a man regarded as one of the world’s best – Mourinho has also won league titles in Italy, Spain and Portugal, plus two Champions League triumphs with Porto and Inter Milan.

Chelsea released a statement a little after 3pm, saying that they wished “to make clear Jose leaves us on good terms”.

The 52-year-old’s second reign at the club has come to an end, with it having been confirmed by the club that they are now searching for another manager as a replacement.

But Mourinho wants more time to turn things around at Stamford Bridge and he again laid the blame at the players’ door in an interview with Chelsea TV.

The Londoners plunged to their ninth league defeat of the season on Tuesday, losing 2-1 at leaders Leicester City to slip to fifth from bottom.

While thrashings by Manchester City and Liverpool were chastening, it was defeats by less glamorous clubs like Leicester, Southampton, West Ham United, Stoke City and modest Bournemouth that led to a sense of crisis. After his Chelsea tenure, things have not gone too well for Hiddink either.

“If you look at the results, consistency will be the main priority because every week you are surprised by results”.