Thursday, September 20, 2007

The Special One Leaves

Love him or hate him he was the Special One. Jose Mourinho has today left his post as Chelsea boss after a lackluster start to the Premier League. The official term being used is that he left due to "Mutual Consent", but the question is did he jump or was he pushed. In my view he was pushed by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. It was no secret that the pair never got on and that looks to of lost Mourinho the job. During Mourinho's term at Chelsea he won two consecutive Premier League's and won one FA Cup and two League Cup's.

The news broke at about half one this morning after Mourinho had attended the release of the Chelsea DVD "Blue Revolution" but he had a face that said he wasn't going to be their much longer. I couldn't believe the news when I heard it. I mean they haven't exactly started terribly to this new season but I always felt that the relationship between Mourinho and Abramovich was bound to crack sooner or later.

This news has put the future's of many key players at Chelsea under threat. The future of Frank Lampard has been under intense speculation over the past few months because he has yet to agree a new contract with the club and in my view he may now move on. Chelsea play one of their toughest games of the season on Sunday, Man United away, and I think this news may be to United's adavantage.

Chelsea have moved quickly to replace Mourinho by appointing former Israel coach Avram Grant. Now in my view I think that this is a step back for Chelsea because they had the option to go out and get a world class manager like Capello or Hiddink but they have decided to go for Grant. I think most Chelsea fans will be upset by the news and this has seriously dented their hopes of adding a third title in four years.

So what next for the special one, well I have heard a sneaky rumour that Mourinho likes it in London and wants to keep his kids in school their, so he may be travelling across London to Tottenham to replace the under pressure Spurs manager Martin Jol. In my view that would be a terrific move for both Tottenham and indeed Mourinho himself.