After the latest mishap in Chelsea’s 2015/16 campaign — a 2-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham on Saturday afternoon — it appears as if plans for Jose Mourinho’s departure have been accelerated, according to the Daily Mail.
This report comes three weeks after the club released a statement backing the Portuguese.
The club wants to make it clear that Jose continues to have our full support.
As Jose has said himself, results have not been good enough and the team’s performances must improve. However, we believe that we have the right manager to turn this season around and that he has the squad with which to do it.
It is rumoured that Chelsea have been contacted by the agents of numerous unemployed managers, namely Carlo Ancelotti.
The Italian, who is currently on sabbatical, managed the Blues during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons — winning the first League and FA Cup double in club history during Ancelotti’s first season at the Bridge.
The man that Ancelotti relieved at Chelsea, Guus Hiddink, is also believed to be a candidate in the short-term.
One of the major road blocks in sacking The Special One is the massive severance pay that it would cost Chelsea, reported to be upwards of £37.5 million — but I find it hard to believe that Roman Abramovich would let that fee stand in his way.
Sacking the manager and bringing in a short-term option would buy some time for the club to re-assess the managerial position. That certainly isn’t out of the question, considering they did just that in the 2013-13 season with Roberto Di Matteo and Rafa Benitez.
Di Matteo — just like Mourinho, should he get fired this season — won a major title with the Blues in the season prior to being fired. After his firing, Chelsea appointed Benitez on an interim basis. Before his appointment, Benitez hadn’t managed for nearly two years.
Benitez’s appointment was beneficial for both parties, as it gave Chelsea time to figure out its next manager (who ultimately turned out to be Mourinho) and allowed Benitez some additional experience before nabbing the managerial job at Napoli following his half-season with the Blues.
As I’m sure you all remember, Benitez led the Blues to the Europa League title and a third place finish in the 2012-13 Premier League season.
Appointing Ancelotti or Hiddink would allow them to gain some short-term experience and, perhaps, get back into the swing of things managerially. It is also rumoured that Pep Guardiola, whose contract expires at the end of the season, could be in the running for the Chelsea job should Mourinho be axed.
Chelsea have a big week coming up — perhaps one that could be the final straw for Mourinho at Stamford Bridge. The Blues continue their defence of the Capital One Cup title and a home tie against Liverpool, who recently fired Brendan Rodgers and appointed Jürgen Klopp.
After that, matches against Dynamo Kiev and at Stoke City await the Blues before another international break. Perhaps a bit of clarity will be provided by the break.
