Chelsea have confirmed Guus Hiddink as interim manager until the end of the season.
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Chelsea technical director Michael Emenalo said a “palpable discord between manager and players” had contributed to Mourinho’s dismissal, the second time he has been sacked by the club.
However, today he may have gone a bit far as he has publicly claimed to know which Chelsea players were behind the plot to get Mourinho out of Stamford Bridge and he even named them on his twitter account.
The bigger picture must be Chelsea’s desire to collect three points against Sunderland as they battle to avoid dropping into the relegation zone in the Premier League, but this was a day that will not be forgotten at Stamford Bridge for a variety of reasons.
Hiddink stated that he is looking to work with the players and staff and is looking to renew the relationship with the fans.
Hiddink spoke to the players in the dressing room after the match and is confident he can arrest the club’s alarming slide, which saw last season’s champions lose nine of their first 16 matches.
Jose Mourinho introduces himself to English football fans by running wildly down the touchline at Old Trafford after his Porto side knocked Manchester United out of the Champions League in 2004.
Mourinho’s assistant Steve Holland took charge for the clash, which the Blues won thanks to goals from Branislav Ivanovic, Pedro and an Oscar penalty before Fabio Borini pulled one back.
Chelsea said Saturday that it views Hiddink as a coach with a “wealth of top-level experience and success”.
One banner, next to a cardboard cut-out of Mourinho on Saturday read: “Our Jose sacrificed, Why?” Abramovich has backed him to have a similar impact this time around.
“Then I’ll decide if I should stay in London longer”.
“It was on the cards quite honestly”, Peter Fletcher, 67, who has been watching Chelsea since the late 1960s.
And the statement underlined the former Real Madrid manager’s pride at winning another Premier League title and taking his major trophies tally to eight as Chelsea manager during his second reign at the defending champions. “Having been here since I was a kid, it hurts me that we are in this position”.
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The agency that represents Mourinho said in a statement that the 52-year-old would not be taking a sabbatical and would be attending matches in order to provide support to his “friends” in the game. It’s some of the players who should have left and we should offload them in January.
