Mourinho is out! And Chelsea?

The time of turmoil at Chelsea began when last Thursday the Premiership and the world was equally shocked to hear that Jose Mourinho has left the club by way of "mutual consent". This basically as Mourinho himself said is a good way of saying not sacked and not resigning. Without a doubt he is one of the most controversial managers in world football. Mourinho is arrogant without a doubt referring to himself as "special" in his first interview with the English press. When Mourinho took over the Chelsea Manager spot from Claudio Ranieri in the summer of 2004, he definitely had an impressive resume with regards to his success. His previous role with a major club as manager was with F.C.Porto where he taken the club to another level. in 2003 FCP won the Portuguese Super Liga, won the Portuguese super cup, and also the UEFA cup.

Though FCP struggled in 2004, Mourinho's men still won the League, and the fairy tale run in the Champions League only ended after a victory in the final over Monaco. The knock out stages saw FCP eliminate European giants such as Man Utd, Deportivo, Lyon. The only match they lost was against Real Madrid in the group stages, who were eliminated by their final opponents Monaco, through an inspired performance from on-loan Real Madrid player Morientes-quiet and irony.

When Mourinho joined Chelsea he was not only one of the highest paid managers around the world, but also had one of the biggest bank accounts to spend on transfers. He brought in his entire staff from Porto to support him in the coaching front. He was not behind in bringing his former Porto team mates as well. He spent in excess of 70M including the then highest 24M for Didier Drogba. He brought in the likes of Carvalho, and Ferraira from Porto as well.

Mourinho won the Premiership for Chelsea in 2003 and 2004 and thus extended his record to 4 back to back league titles. Chelsea won the league cup against Liverpool but were knocked out by Liverpool in the Champions League, who went on to win the 2005 edition of the same. Mourinho's success with Chelsea is by no means dull- in his time at Chelsea the team has won 6 trophies including two back to back league championships. That in itself is a record. Chelsea's unbeaten record at home in the league is a record beating the previous best by Liverpool in the 80s. The only disappointment has been the lack of success in Champions League.

Mourinho has not tried and has never been able to stay away from controversy. He has had altercations with Liverpool fans when Chelsea equalized and was escorted away. He accused Frank Rijkard the Barcelona coach to have spoken with Anders Frisk at half time during their Champions League match at Nou Camp and that he influenced Frisk, which led to sending off of Drogba. UEFA investigated the whole deal, the match referee had reported that Rijkard tried to talk to Frisk, but he sent him away. Following the incident Frisk resigned as he was facing constant death threats. UEFA referee chief branded Mourinho as an "enemy of football"

In 2005 Mourinho was found guilty as was fined for a tapping incident with Arsenal LB, Ashley Cole on account of meeting with the player and agent without the consent of Arsenal. The agent was banned. Eventually in 2006 Cole joined Chelsea, Arsene Wenger and Mourinho had a strained relationship from this which was later patched up. Mourinho was often quoted in the press with his accusations against players diving, and referring decisions. He always had a war of words with rival manager like Sir Alex and Benitez.

For most of the press, it was a shock when Mourinho left Chelsea after the new season had started. And to say the least it has been less than impressive. One of my friends who is a die hard Chelsea fan was in Stamford Bridge for the match against Rosenborg in the first round group stages of the Champions League and said they had atleast 200 chances. A team with all these star players struggling to score against Rosenborg at home?-it is hard to digest. The game was equalized with a Shevchenko header, whom it was claimed in the press that Mourinho insisted not on buying. Mourinho wanted Eto from Barcelona. With Roman and the board looking for a big name striker, Milan honestly i dont think had a problem in getting 31M for Sheva after they had used his quality years. Though they keep claiming that they want him back Milan would be laughing at Chelsea.

Lets forget all the wrong reasons why Mourinho's name always flashed in the news. He has achieved great success with Chelsea. But failure to capture the Champions League and Premiership last season and a lack lustre beginning to the league this season cannot be ignored. Mourinho leaving Chelsea is very similar to Real Madrid sacking League winning coach Fabio Capello. You cannot play for results at such clubs. Mourinho is being criticized for his defensive approach and playing for the points at stake. Having spent all the money and having the kind of players Chelsea have they need to entertain and thrill the fans. I feel strongly that Chelsea V Liverpool in the Champions League though on paper was a fire cracker of a match was one of the most depressing games i have seen in my life. If you are having the results to back you up you can be arrogant and claim that you are a special one.

Mourinho no doubt has achieved some great stuff at Porto. His achievements at Chelsea is good but i would not want to consider it the same as with Porto because of the freedom in the transfer market and the kind of players Chelsea had on the rolls. You can be special but seeing your club Manager's name in the news paper everyday for the wrong reason can be disturbing if i was Roman and the board. You need not back away from arguments and sparring as this happens a lot in the Premiership, but you cannot be someone who goes around looking for trouble. The bad boy image is only good till a point of competition, its a thin line from being a pain.I saw Mourinho's interview with the press after he quit Chelsea and i have a feeling he would find himself in Italy probably in the winter. He said he wants to learn German and Italian, but i think Inter Milan will be his next stop.

What about Chelsea? Its a big road block, and i am not so sure the millions of pounds will save Chelsea. If Chelsea are to win something this season it will be a Herculean task. The new Manager is Avram Grant, the Israeli is a close friend of Roman and was the Director of Football at Chelsea. It is supposed to be a permanent deal, a 2-0 defeat against Man U the following week has by no means helped in nurturing the upset Chelsea fans. No offense to Chelsea fans, but teams like Real Madrid went through this for 4 years before they finally think they have the right guy as Manager. Mourinho is out, but is Chelsea?