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Premier League side Chelsea announced the departure of Portuguese tactician Jose Mourinho on Thursday. According to their official website, the club and Mourinho parted ways by ‘mutual consent’ after just seven months of guiding Chelsea back to the summit of English football.
Chelsea have endured a torrid spell so far this season under the 52-year-old and are currently languishing in 16th place in the League table, just a single point clear off relegation places. The side has been able to muster a measly 15 points from the 16 games they have played so far in a season which has spiralled out of control for the Londoners.
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The decision of the club to let go of Mourinho has unsurprisingly polarised the opinion of millions of football fans world over. Reactions and opinions have been flowing in thick and fast on the media as the Portuguese was ‘sacked’ for the second time in the Roman Abramovich era.
Current Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce led the reactions of rival Premier League managers as he expressed his disappointment at his counterpart’s sacking.
“I’m shocked to say the least” was Allardyce’s immediate response. “They must have somebody lined up. I’m sad to see Mourinho go because I got to know him quite well and he’s a great character. He’s a loss to the Premier League. Because of the underachievement at Chelsea, even a great manager like José has lost his job.”
Former Liverpool player and manager Graeme Souness effectively summed up the pressure on a Premier League manager to succeed.
He said, “Part of me is shocked and part of me isn’t shocked. You’d think his track record would buy him a bit of time, but I think on the other side of the coin you look at what’s happened at Chelsea this year and there has to be something fundamentally wrong.
“I think he’s lost his dressing room and some of the major players in the dressing room have given up on him. If you look at the quality of players Chelsea have right now, where they are in the league is ridiculous – they should not be down there,” Souness concluded.
Arsenal legend and current television pundit Thierry Henry admitted that he was unsure if Mourinho could have revived the fortunes of the team.
“I don’t know if he could have turned it around. I think the club needed to do something... it is probably a sad day if you are a Chelsea fan, but they will bounce back. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done for a club, they can show you the door. Going for the manager is the easiest option,” Henry said.
The manager of the team Chelsea pipped to win the title last year, Manchester City’s Manuel Pellegrini said, “The Premier League has lost an important manager. Maybe I disagree with him on a lot of things but he's not my enemy. It's a bad thing for the Premier League.”
“It's not for me to miss him but the Premier League will miss him. The Premier League is better with Mourinho. I manage the team in a very different way to the way he does but that doesn't mean he's not a good manager or important for the league,” he concluded.
Former Spurs boss Harry Redknapp summed it up in one line, “There's something not right at Chelsea, let's be honest.”
Terry, Fabregas lead Chelsea players’ reaction to Mourinho’s departure
Chelsea captain John Terry expressed his displeasure with the sacking of Mourinho as a ‘sad’ day and took to Instagram to showcase his views on the former manager.
Cesc Fabregas took to Twitter to express his gratitude to the ‘Special One’.
Reactions from other famous personalities
Chelsea supporter and former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen was more vocal about the decision and used Twitter to vent out his frustration.
Real Madrid President Florentino Perez ruled out re-signing Jose Mourinho for the manager’s job, stating they believe in Rafa Benitez.
“He (Jose Mourinho) gave us a competitive boost. But all coaches come and they all have to go. We have a great coach. Rafa is the person that we have chosen and we have to let him work with the collaboration of all the players,” said Perez.
Former Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers striker Alan Shearer admitted that it was time for Jose to go as he had lost the dressing room.
“Once you fall out with players then it is a very difficult situation you find yourself in,” Alan Shearer said. “If you fall out with two or three you can move them on. But when you go over that you’re talking about half a dressing room. You can’t sack all the players. Then you have a decision to make.”
Another legendary England striker, Gary Lineker, was at his funny best, suggesting Eva Carneiro should take up the job left vacant by Jose Mourinho’s sacking.
And finally, we have Arsenal fan and famous TV host Piers Morgan, who labelled sacking Mourinho as ‘the worst decision in football history’.
“Few things have ever been madder than Chelsea’s decision to sack Jose Mourinho – the single greatest football manager on Planet Earth, and arguably the greatest ever.
“This is the single worst decision in the history of the sport. Jose Mourinho isn’t just a winner. He’s THE winner of the modern game. In just 12 years as a manager he’s won an astonishing 21 trophies.”
He concluded by admitting that being an Arsenal fan he should have been thrilled due to Mourinho’s constant dissing of manager Arsene Wenger, but was left flabbergasted by the news.
