Jose Mourinho – The Sacked One

Jose “The Special One” Mourinho
Roman Abramovich sacks manager
Chelsea have new manager lined up
Louis van Gaal very, very nervous

Seven months after winning the Premier League title for the fourth time Chelsea have sacked the manager that oversaw three of those wins. Jose Mourinho has been let go by owner Roman Abramovich after nine losses in the sixteen games so far this season, but are they parting company too soon or not soon enough? And what now for “The Special One”?

When reports came in it was of a parting by “mutual consent” however we all know Jose Mourinho got sacked. Chelsea have played abominably this season and in recent weeks it has been almost embarrassing to watch. When a manager of Jose's caliber started to say he felt “betrayed” by the players you know something is seriously wrong in the relationship between the manager and the rest of the dressing room. And let's be honest here. We all saw it coming.

When Jose Mourinho returned to Chelsea it was to the sort of welcome by fans and players usually reserved for the Second Coming of Christ, the winning of lotteries or the arrival of cocaine deliveries, and their adulation was immediately rewarded by success as Jose led them, by force of personality alone it seemed at times, to success that culminated in the Premier League title win last season and no one then would have been gambling news would break of his being sacked just 7 months later.

“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.” Chelsea said in a statement. “The club wishes to make clear Jose leaves us on good terms and will always remain a much-loved, respected and significant figure at Chelsea. The club's focus is now on ensuring our talented squad reaches its potential.” Apparently Jose Mourinho's title win didn't involve that......um.....

Roman Abramovich Finally Fires Mourinho

Hugely popular with fans, he was noted for his being able to rouse a dressing room, to lead his players, and it would seem, somewhere along the line that changed. His demeanor this season went from ebullient to tetchy to hostile to sanguine all in the space of ten games or so as Chelsea's array of Premier League players slumped in form to the sort of level one might witness if one supported a team of blind amputees......or Aston Villa perhaps.

The loss against Leicester on the weekend was perhaps the final straw. It forced Jose Mourinho to admit Chelsea wouldn't be making the top four this season, and his disposition on the touchline was not one of a man that had the confidence of his players nor any in them himself. However there were plenty of instances before this that have sounded alarm bells that once again amongst those that like to bet on sports in the UK, Mourinho's third season with a club always a bit tricky.

That Roman Abramovich waited this long has already been jokingly written off as an act of revenge for Mourinho leaving him in the lurch the last time, he has sacked other managers at Chelsea far faster for far less of a dip in Premier League results (As a wise man has said today “Chelsea's players have a 100% record of getting managers fired”) but apparently the amusement of watching Jose Mourinho squirm has worn off and thus “The Special One” is history.......again.

Where Next For Jose Mourinho?

Naturally he'll be amply rewarded. He signed a four year contract back at the start of the season, and the golden handshake written into that will make Jose Mourinho a millionaire, but some way away from retirement age you just know he'll be looking around again for another team, and other teams will be looking very seriously at what he might be able to do for them, their results and their profile. The question is who'll take the risk he's actually bonkers and be willing to pay what he'll be asking.

If you were Louis van Gaal you'd be quite nervous right now. It's one thing to offer up your job as a wager on victories in the Premier League, it's another to do it when arguably one of the best managers in the world has just been let go and is on the market for a new club to lead. Sure, it would be a bold move by Man United to hire Jose Mourinho but given the accusations of being “boring” recently, perhaps bold is precisely what they're looking for.

Chelsea have already said they've got someone else lined up who'll be in place by the weekend, and it remains to be seen who Sunderland will find themselves facing on Saturday. Rumors swirl around Pep Guardiola, for instance, but at the time of writing nothing has yet been confirmed. Whomever takes the reigns you can bet their priority will be to get results on the board and avoid relegation, so you might, once again, want to take advantage of UK gambling laws to back Chelsea at Bet365.