I was hoping that this was all a nightmare and when Avram Grant was appointed I was so sure that this was nothing but a nightmare. But, it’s all real. Jose has really left Chelsea. It takes many weeks and months and seasons to come to terms with this but he’s gone. Like many pointed out, he left Benfica, the biggest Portuguese club, for similar reasons. And now we all know, who repents that decision. He revived and made Porto, Benfica’s arch-rival, a real force not just in Portuguese football but also in European football. Now again, boardroom reasons and the best manager is gone.

We all love Jose Mourinho just as the way we love John Terry or any other Chelsea player. Just like it happens with the transfers, we’d like to know how good a transfer this is. If Terry goes, we’re sad but we need a good replacement. Similarly, as long as the replacement is better than Jose, we should be fine. If he is not better than Jose, there is absolutely no justification to allow a highly successful coach to leave like this.

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Thankfully, Chelsea FC realised that Jose is a darling of the fans and rightfully delivered a statement on why he left. They call it breakdown of relationship between Jose and the ‘club’. I’d like to know who comprises of the term ‘club’ here. The way we see it, the breakdown was in Roman’s relationship with Jose and anything else could have been managed or thwarted, given the success and importance of Mourinho.

Early this morning we announced that Chelsea and José Mourinho had agreed to part company by mutual consent. The key phrase here is that there was mutual agreement. Jose did not resign and he was not sacked. What is clear, though, is we had all reached a point where the relationship between the club and José had broken down. This was despite genuine attempts over several months by all parties to resolve certain differences. The reason the decision has been taken is that we believed the breakdown started to impact on the performance of the team and recent results supported this view. We did not want this to continue or affect the club further.

Jose has been saying all along that he wants to remain at the club and see his contract through. If he was left alone to do his job, he’d stayed forever. He was in love with Chelsea, London, the fans and even the Press. In his third season, there were too many interceptions to his job and it was quite obvious. Firstly, the January budget freeze and that’s where it all started, Arnesen locking horns with Jose, Avram appointed as ‘someone’ with a position and power to oversee Jose and then a small patch of three winless matches.

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We have to agree that, without Roman we would not have seen Jose in Chelsea. Also Roman is a very intelligent businessman who has made billions and his billions should mean he should be incredibly good in his judgment and decision-making. Though Roman has allowed Jose to leave, I’m sure that Roman realises that for Chelsea’s success and future, Jose is very important but a nasty ego clashes between two strong personalities means ‘logic’ goes down in the list.

Roman has appointed Avram as the replacement for mighty Mourinho. Though it looks completely out-of-the-box, Roman may have a reason. Avram does not have the football credentials to match the European Champion Jose Mourinho who joined Chelsea in 2004. Just because he does not have those credentials should not mean he would be a waste of space. Let’s give him a chance. But it’s not just about football tactics, it’s also about motivating this depressed group of players in a confused or even aggrieved state of mind. I’m not going rain down on Avram. Let’s see what he’s got up his sleeve.

Chelsea FC also paid tribute to Jose Mourinho, apart from a complete article on Jose’s period in Chelsea, titled ‘The Special Mourinho Years’:

We also must pay tribute to the great job José did for Chelsea. He has been the most successful manager the club has known and he rightly deserves that place in our history. José has been instrumental in putting Chelsea where it is today, among the leading clubs in European and world football. He will always be welcome at Stamford Bridge, whether as the guest of Chelsea or as the manager of another club, and he will be given the reception and respect his position in our history deserves.

I felt so awfully bad when I read these lines “he will always be welcome at Stamford Bridge, whether as a guest . . . “. The man who completely owned the Bridge, who made a record of remaining unbeaten in league games throughout his stay at Chelsea, is now welcome as a guest. His home record could not be managed even by the living legends in football management. Such a sad end.

Finally, the Special One says the first few words since his exit.

I am very proud of my work in Chelsea Football Club and I think my decision in May 2004 to come to England was an excellent one. It was a beautiful and rich period of my career. I want to thank all Chelsea FC supporters for what I believe is a never ending love story. I wish great success to the club, a club that will be forever connected to me for some historic moments. I wish the players happiness in football and in their family life. Finally on my wife’s and children’ s behalf we thank the great professionalism of their school teachers and the beauty of so many friends.

Truly, it is indeed a never ending love story. His last line on the school teachers indicate that he is moving out of London amidst rumours that he might take up the Spurs job. Very obvious and strange that his ‘thank you message’ says nothing about the club management that gave him the opportunity to work at Chelsea.

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Read this with a heavy heart. BBC says that Didier Drogba is said to have burst into tears when Mourinho came in to speak to the players. I’m sure directives must have been circulated to all players and officials on what they can or cannot talk about this whole episode. No press meet or interviews from any of the players so far on Jose’s exit. They cannot escape this as well. If not now, whenever they appear before a microphone, they might have to face questions.

Here is a snapshot from the BBC website, who have created a separate section for ‘Mourinho leaves Chelsea’ which shows the magnitude of the news. Also, it is nice to see that most of the level headed rival fans coming out either condemning the decision, sympathising with the Chelsea fans or paying tribute to one of the best coaches the English league has seen.

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In The Telegraph, Henry Winter talks about the greatness of Jose and what we will miss in his absence. Kevin McCarra in The Guardian talks about Jose raised the bar in English football. Not that I subscribe to this view but The Guardian carries another article on how this has become a rich man’s plaything. And The TimesOnline says what can happen to us in the worst case scenario.

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Jose was always the 12th man on the pitch, the driving force in each and every player. He was the Boss and he made sure he let everyone know that. His presence would always be missed and I don’t think he would ever be replaced even if we win back-to-back champions league with someone else. Because, with Jose, it was not just the success alone, it was something else. I wish him back all great success and happiness in his career and life. Love him or hate him, there is only one Special One and he is not ours anymore.

[tags]Chelsea, Jose Mourinho, Roman Abramovich, Avram Grant, Premier League, Champions League, Didier Drogba, Peter Kenyon[/tags]