Jose Mourinho has left Chelsea.

[Lowerdeck]

He's fighting back the tears as he waves goodbye, whilst his daughter tells Abramovich what she thinks of him.

Sad day

Now that's not right. :thumbsdown:

I wonder what guys like him are gonna do knowing this Israeli coach is coming in. Especially if Chelsea keeps winning.

Edited September 20, 2007 by Lowerdeck

[Liam]

Well the plus side of this is Chelsea might occasionally fill out their stadium and might play some football that doesn't make little children cry.

At least they won things.

[fineintent]

When Chelsea played 4-3-3 in his first two seasons, I thought they played nice football. Pragmatic, but they were brilliant on the counter attack. I think people jump on the bandwagon a bit. When Duff and Robben were on form, Chelsea were one of the best sides around to watch.

[IAceI]

I'd rather win than play attractive football. As an Arsenal fan you can't honestly say you wouldn't prefer to play good football to winning football surely? Especially since now your essentially fourth fiddle in the league.

[Guest jonnocool91]

Chelsea have sensationally parted company with manager Jose Mourinho.

The stunning news was confirmed in the early hours of Thursday following talks with leading Stamford Bridge officials.

Mourinho was called to an emergency meeting late on Wednesday night with chief executive Peter Kenyon, chairman Bruce Buck and director Eugene Tenenbaum, Roman Abramovich's key aide.

The self-styled 'Special One' had earlier joined the Chelsea first team at a club DVD launch in Fulham and is understood to have been very emotional when he later texted senior players with the news.

Chelsea released a statement on their website at 1.45am on Thursday that read: "Chelsea Football Club and Jose Mourinho have agreed to part company today (Thursday) by mutual consent."

The former Porto boss won two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and two League Cups in just over three years at the club but his relationship with billionaire owner Abramovich became strained earlier this year and his departure comes just 24 hours after the club outlined their plans to win the UEFA Champions League - something Mourinho failed to do with the Blues.

The final straw appeared to be Tuesday's disappointing 1-1 draw with Rosenburg, watched by less than 25,000 fans.

Chelsea's first game without him is against champions Manchester United at Old Trafford live on Sky Sports on Sunday.

[9 to 5]

Glad you are on the ball!

[METALMAN]

Yes, that's the point of the thread believe it or not.

Personally I feel Avram Grant will be just as unsuccessful as those foreign nobodies who have managed Hearts over the last year or so.

[9 to 5]

Jesus, they have asked Jamie Redknapp to be assistant manager to bring some glamour to the side? Fuck me!

[therockbox]

As long as it LITERALLY gets him off Sky, because he LITERALLY makes me want to LITERALLY jam a spork into my eyes.

[9 to 5]

Not a nice way to treat an Anfield legend now is it? >_>

[TMM]

I'd rather win than play attractive football. As an Arsenal fan you can't honestly say you wouldn't prefer to play good football to winning football surely? Especially since now your essentially fourth fiddle in the league.

Well everytime we've won anything we've played the best football around (except when we beat Man Utd in the FA Cup). We're playing the best football again this season, and we've been the best team so far, so good football does win things. And personally, as an Arsenal and a football fan, I honestly would not be happy if we played as boringly as Chelsea.

[Guest Ringmaster]

That's right, the road to the CL final of 06 was paved with truly beautiful football and a sensational, breathtaking display of total football.

[Liam]

I'd rather win than play attractive football. As an Arsenal fan you can't honestly say you wouldn't prefer to play good football to winning football surely? Especially since now your essentially fourth fiddle in the league.

Well everytime we've won anything we've played the best football around (except when we beat Man Utd in the FA Cup). We're playing the best football again this season, and we've been the best team so far, so good football does win things. And personally, as an Arsenal and a football fan, I honestly would not be happy if we played as boringly as Chelsea.

I find that entire post funny.

I just picture a scenario where you win something of note playing 'ugly' football, and turn to your Arsenal-supporting friends and say 'sorry lads, I would celebrate, but we just didn't play good enough football for me'.

And anyway, Fineintent had it spot on. The first two seasons where they won, they actually played nice football. Obviously not the 'beautiful' football that Arsenal played, but as Mourinho said, if he went three years without actually winning anything of real note, he'd have already been out of a job. As would most top managers. Wenger can ponce about with his brand of football, and bemoan those who get physical or don't play the game as nicely as them, but you know, other managers actually have to win titles.

Edited September 22, 2007 by Liam Byrne

[Baddar]

It's always great for your team to play "sexy football", but as long as you're winning, it doesn't matter much in the end. Take United for instance. Their 1st half display against Sporting on Weds could have been described as very poor ....They weren't too much better in the 2nd half up until Ronaldo scored. A performance that you wouldn't normally see from a United side turned out as a victory, and a rare away win in Europe.

Arsenal do play great football, yes, but can also be the most annoying team on the face of the earth at times. At least 5 or 6 times a game I shout "shooooot", and I ain't even an Arsenal fan. It seems they want to walk it into the net all the time.

Edited September 22, 2007 by BaddarD2k7

[Liam]

Arsenal do play great football, yes, but can also be the most annoying team on the face of the earth at times. At least 5 or 6 times a game I shout "shooooot", and I ain't even an Arsenal fan. It seems they want to walk it into the net all the time.

Exactly. I find Arsenal frustrating more than exciting to watch, and as have said before, enjoy more pragmatic styles like Sam Allardyce's Bolton, Blackburn and Chelsea these last few years. It hasn't always been exciting, but the way they play got results.

[Lineker]

Doubts raised over Grant's future

Avram Grant's long-term future as Jose Mourinho's successor at Chelsea could be in doubt because he lacks the required coaching licence.

Uefa and Premier League rules require anyone wishing to manage in the top flight to hold the Uefa pro licence.

But Chelsea have confirmed that Grant does not have one, and he now requires special dispensation to manage the club for more than 12 weeks.

The pro licence requires 240 hours of study and usually takes a year to gain.

In the past the Premier League has granted extensions beyond the 12-week period of grace in a couple of exceptional cases.

Glenn Roeder received an extension on health grounds while Gareth Southgate was deemed to have had restricted opportunities to gain a licence because of his international career.

Martin O'Neill was also granted an exemption after undergoing a five-day refresher course.

Grant has not held a manager's position for five years but won league titles when coaching in Israel.

[stokeriño]

They'll clearly grant the extension - but if they didn't, let's just say I will not be especially displeased.

[Pesci]

Hopefully Grant is the most charasmatic Israeli ever, he'd have to be, because Jose leaving has created such a huge void. And Neil Warnock isn't here this season either, some people may've hated him, but I loved his interviews on MOTD. Now I can't really think of anybody who's going to make them worth watching. Except for lil' Sammy with his talk about positives all the time.

[Johnny Latino Heat]

It's always great for your team to play "sexy football", but as long as you're winning, it doesn't matter much in the end. Take United for instance. Their 1st half display against Sporting on Weds could have been described as very poor ....They weren't too much better in the 2nd half up until Ronaldo scored. A performance that you wouldn't normally see from a United side turned out as a victory, and a rare away win in Europe.