Chelsea dismiss Jose Mourinho after a run of poor results

It was simply inevitable. Jose Mourinho was dismissed as Chelsea manager after a run of poor results and his statement earlier in the week that he felt betrayed by some of his star players. The way Mourinho was sacked was remarkable. According to the British media, The Special One was dismissed shortly after the team’s Christmas lunch, which the coaching staff and players traditionally organise at the club’s Cobham training base. The mood among the players was very good, but the same could not be said of the manager, who had been fairly grim since the defeat to Leicester on Monday night.

Shortly after the lunch, as the players were beginning to leave the base, owner Roman Abramovich and the board members arrived. One of the players who had not yet left noticed and immediately sent a message to the rest of his teammates, and from that moment everyone was waiting for the big news. The meeting between the bosses, the third that week, lasted only about five minutes. Mourinho was then called in for a conversation with Abramovich, chairman Bruce Buck and director Eugene Tenenbaum. That meeting lasted ten minutes, and the bosses informed Mourinho of their final decision. The Portuguese was, of course, already aware of his fate, since lawyers and his agent Jorge Mendes had spent several weeks discussing the termination of his contract and the amount of compensation. The Special One had still hoped for another chance because of the easy fixtures ahead: in the next two Premier League rounds Chelsea were due to host Sunderland and Watford, and two victories would have improved his chances of staying.

The board, however, did not share that view, as the statement from the club’s technical director, Michael Emenalo, showed. He said the club had huge admiration for a man who had done so much for Chelsea, but had to acknowledge that the team was in trouble. The results were not good, there appeared to be palpable discord between the players and the manager, and it was time for action. According to Emenalo, the owner had been forced to take this difficult decision for the good of the club.

Chelsea were expected to announce officially in the near future that Guus Hiddink would lead the team until the end of the season. Strangely, the news was first confirmed by a surprising source: the official Twitter account of the Australian football federation, where Hiddink had worked. The “Kangaroos” rushed to congratulate the Dutchman on his new post and wish him all the best, even though Chelsea had not yet confirmed his appointment.

How the title defence collapsed

The scale of the decline explained the board's decision. Chelsea had won the 2014/15 Premier League by eight points and also lifted the League Cup, and Mourinho had signed a new four-year contract as recently as 7 August 2015. By the time of his departure, announced on 17 December 2015, the champions had lost nine of their 16 league matches and sat 16th in the table, only one point above the relegation places. His final game in charge was the 2-1 defeat away to leaders Leicester City. The club's statement described the parting as a joint conclusion that results had not been good enough, while Emenalo spoke of palpable discord between manager and players.

What came after for Chelsea and Mourinho

Guus Hiddink did take over as interim manager in December, his second spell in that role at Stamford Bridge, and stayed until the end of the campaign. Chelsea finished tenth, their lowest league position since 1995/96, in what the Premier League described as the worst title defence in its history. In April 2016 the club named Antonio Conte as head coach on a three-year contract starting after Euro 2016. Conte's first season ended with the 2016/17 Premier League title, sealed by a 1-0 win at West Bromwich Albion on 12 May 2017, with a record 30 league wins and 93 points.

Mourinho was not out of work for long. On 27 May 2016, days after Louis van Gaal had been dismissed, Manchester United announced him as their new manager on a three-year contract.