Emenalo said Chelsea were “in trouble” but rejected suggestions that the players had let the club down.
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The club issued the following statement on Thursday confirming the news: “All at Chelsea thank José for his huge contribution since he returned as manager in the summer of 2013”.
Mourinho was pictured leaving Chelsea’s Cobham training ground for the last time on Thursday afternoon, with a hoodie pulled down over his head.
“But both José and the board agreed results have not been good enough this season and believe it is in the best interests of both parties to go our separate ways”.
On its website, the federation stated: “Guus Hiddink has taken temporary charge at struggling EPL giant Chelsea after the club announced they’d sacked coach Jose Mourinho overnight following the club’s disastrous run in the English Premier League”.
There was plenty of speculation as to who might replace Mourinho, with the British media recently linking former Tottenham Hotspur manager Juande Ramos with the job…
For Chelsea fans despondent with the news that the most successful manager in the club’s history had been shown the door, it was very much a case of what might have been… “This period was important for me”.
Mourinho accepted in the wake of that defeat in the East Midlands that Chelsea could not now challenge for a top-four finish to secure Champions League qualification for next season.
Mourinho lambasted his players afterwards, saying: “I feel like my work was betrayed”. They are now level on points with Barcelona at the top of the table.
“It seems to me that his comments about the players, that they overachieved, you can not do that”, he told Sky Sports.
Mourinho’s departure – characterized by Chelsea as “mutual” – came 2 1/2 years after his return to Stamford Bridge and only four months into a new four-year contract.
But the bubbly has gone flat since then, along with the team’s performance.
As well as floundering in the league, they were knocked out of the League Cup on penalties by Stoke City, although they have reached the Champions League last 16, where they will face Paris Saint-Germain.
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That game was overshadowed by Mourinho’s criticism of his medical staff for running on to treat Eden Hazard, which temporarily left his team down to nine men.
