Earlier today, Chelsea Football Club announced that they relieved Jose Mourinho from his duties as the Chelsea manager.
This news was hardly surprising due to the Blues nightmare season so far and the fact the board at Chelsea are ruthless when it comes to sacking managers.
The club then released a video of technical director Michael Emenalo discussing Mourinho’s departure with Chelsea TV presenter Ben Andrews. Chelsea fans were furious not just with what was said by Emenalo but the fact the video came out when really they didn’t need to say anything about the matter.
Michael Emenalo has played roles in the sacking of previous Chelsea managers. Now I’m not saying he’s fully to blame for the sacking of Jose Mourinho as other members of the board such as Chairman Bruce Buck and Chelsea director Eugene Tenenbaum who were part of the 10-minute meeting that would break the news to Mourinho that he would be sacked.
It was a decision from the board as a whole but many fans will point the finger at Emenalo especially after this controversial interview.
The Nigerian first went on to say that the club were in trouble and that there was a palpable discard between the manager and the players.
Emenalo was reluctant to criticise the players for this poor season which has left Chelsea just one point above the relegation zone by saying that he believes the players have been trying to get the club higher up in the table but at the end of the day what Emenalo describes as ‘trying’ has been nowhere near good enough.
The players haven’t shown anywhere near the level of commitment they showed last season and take into consideration that this squad hasn’t changed a lot apart from a few additions. Players like Cesc Fabregas, Eden Hazard and Diego Costa have been below average which is why many Chelsea fans have sympathy for Jose Mourinho who won eight major trophies during both of his spells at Chelsea.
It’s hard for the manager to give the players instructions when they don’t follow them. It’s that simple. The two things I would criticise Mourinho on is that he could have taken more responsibility or saying the other team outplayed us when we didn’t win a game and not starting players that would give it their best efforts like Ruben Loftus-Cheek or Kenedy instead of those who haven’t played for the badge on front of the shirt.
The board also need to take responsibility for our current situation. The business done by the South West London club during the summer transfer window clearly wasn’t good enough and the players Mourinho wanted the club to bring in weren’t signed. Emenalo doesn’t feel as if he or the majority of the board should be blamed for this poor season from watching the interview. Marina Granovskaia was reportedly the only member of the board that still had faith in Mourinho and she played a big role in bringing the Portuguese manager to the club in 2013.
Michael Emenalo went on to say that the club had a contingency plan for a situation like this and that people are working hard to ensure a managerial appointment is taken care of as soon as possible. Guus Hiddink is the current favourite for the job
