The Skipper

Fair comments. I have to say, it's different when it comes to hiring a new manager than what went on with Jose in the last few months. The psychological aspect of the game is very underrated, and it seemed to me that the players didn't lose belief in Mourinho per se, more so in his footballing ideas. As a manager, it's important to stop individuals from becoming complacent, but Jose did not manage that and we now find ourselves in this situation. Just to clarify on what I meant about the board - what they did in the 14/15 season was very good, but the ground work coming up to that; specifically after 2012, where they invested smartly in players such as KDB, Lukaku, Courtois, Eden, Oscar, Azpi etc... I commend them for their work there - that is the direction I saw the club going into. It's been a pleasure debating with you, but a man has to go to bed and get ready for work. I must say again that you do come across very well in your posts, so keep it up. Hope that you stick around and become an active member here, it's nice to have different views that are put across eloquently.

Couldn't have said it better tbh.

You know, I agree that Mourinho would've definitely steered us to mid table but that isn't much of an achievement as you would know. I think we both want the same thing for the club, we both want the club to move in the right direction - key difference here is that you believe that Jose is the embodiment of how we should achieve that, whereas I have lost faith in him. That's fair from you - if there was any person in Chelsea history you'd want to place your faith in, it'd probably be Jose - but to me he isn't the same anymore, and I initially liked this - it was evident that he wasn't the same Jose when he came back - but I've grown to not be as in awe of him as I was before. I think the game has surpassed him in certain ways, which means he'd be detrimental to the long term future of the club - but of course that is just my opinion. Your opinion is fair as well, I think you've come across very well and respectful in your posts, so for that I must thank you. However, I just can't agree with you. I'm honestly not too fussed by players going to rivals - Jose similarly (even though he was against the Cech sale) has shown in the past that he isn't too fussed by it either - him getting Mata to United for example. Of course Jose was one of the main reasons we won the title last year as well, I'd never say he was not. That doesn't mean that my view of him being our long term manager can't change though. The difference between Eden and Jose is that Jose is an abrasive, arrogant character, so he will get tagged like that. Eden however is very light hearted. It's very difficult to compare a player and a manager though, so I'll stop here. I disagree. We'll have to wait and see whether they've learnt from this or not, but the way the board built the squad before Jose arrived and the way we clinically made our summer signings last year - I can't say that I fully trust them to steer us in the right direction yet but I'm willing to see what happens - it's all we can do now.

But he isn't the sole person responsible, that's my point. It goes further than Emenalo. It goes all the way up to Roman, Marina, Eugene, Bruce Buck etc. They're all responsible.

I don't think it's all his fault, I voiced my displeasure at the board for not getting in the right players, but he's certainly one of the main reasons why we're a point above relegation.

OTK, I actually don't disagree with you that the summer was absolutely abysmal and that we definitely didn't do enough to move forward, but my issue is that whilst players have become complacent - I can't see how a team of this quality are in the position they are in now. Moyes at United - you could call his season there very similar to ours right now - United were not good enough that season but they never slid down as hard as we did. I have to blame Jose for not managing the situation well enough. Yes, okay, our squad wasn't rejuvenated and I would accept that for a reason if we weren't challenging for the title well enough or even struggling to make the top four BUT we're nearly in the relegation zone. It's an entirely different prospect and unprecedented, and Jose has to take the heat for steering us to where we are right now. On your rent-a-manager comment, I believe that Roman and the board have learnt enough now to understand that they need to be more patient in appointing or removing managers. They don't seem to be anywhere near as trigger happy - and this is proven by the fact that they gave Jose the time to try and turn it around. Jose didn't manage to do such though.

Jose has himself to blame more than anyone else. He wouldn't have been sacked if he didn't manage to steer the quality in this team to 1 point above the relegation zone.

It's very naive to think that Emenalo and Jose were the final decision makers in player acquisitions this summer IMO. What if Roman just didn't want to spend money? People find it so easy to slate Emenalo, honestly.

So you attribute this utter disaster of a season to the fact that we failed to get in the right players in the summer? Now, I would accept that if we were underperforming to a certain level, let's say we were lingering in mid table at 10th right now, but that line has been crossed long ago. It's way bigger than that. To have a squad this talented be 1 point above the relegation zone is utterly unacceptable. And Jose to me is hugely responsible for that. Okay, let's say... He couldn't motivate this set of players anymore. Fine. But this drop off is completely unprecedented. Yes, we stood still, and Jose then almost reversed us into oblivion. As I said before, with the amount of talent we have in the squad, this is not acceptable from any manager. What I love about the club? It's a family thing for myself. There's plenty of Chelsea fans in my family and we all have strong emotions towards the club in that sense. It's very simplistic to say it's as simple as the badge, the Bridge or fellow fans. It's a deeply rooted connection. Jose's confidence/arrogance fits the club well when we're performing but he's lost that sort of aura about him. He isn't the same person as he was a decade ago. He sounds a lot different, bitter and deluded a lot of the times, and I'm certain this club isn't about that. Not to me anyway. Jose Mk II isn't the same as the Jose that stepped in a decade ago. Not at all. I don't want us to play like Barcelona. I want us to develop our own identity and we were on our way of doing so. If a manager isn't producing the goods then yes, he has to go. I'm sorry to keep harping about this but... We need to get past the stage where we let a manager dictate the philosophy and ethos of this club. It needs to be the other way around. It seems like we'll just go around and around in circles with this, so respectfully, I'll agree to disagree with you. I admire your loyalty to Jose, it's great to see - but for me my first loyalty will always be the well being and progression of the club and Jose, the legend that he is, is an unfortunate casualty of that.

OTK,First off. Thanks for a very eloquent response, very much appreciated. Now, I must respectfully say that I disagree with various points you've made. The first point I'll make is that you can't say that the squad weakened so much that we should be hovering a point above relegation at this stage of the season; no matter what you say that isn't good enough. As for integrating the youth when we're on the front foot? That's not how Mourinho works, he never has. Last season, when we clearly were on the front foot, Mourinho still was very reluctant to field youngsters. CL group stage against Sporting when RLC got a few minutes is a great example of this - we were utterly brilliant around that time but we still didn't see enough youngsters. I don't buy that we would've been playing the youth if we were doing well this season. And that's all well and good. He's deserved it. He's been a very influential person in our club. I'll always hold him in the highest regard but that doesn't mean he's always going to be the right person to take us forward. It's not about stylish football, it's about the plan we had as a club. The right path I've been alluding to is the very one Jose harped about when he came back - the ability to win in style, to nurture our young talents that we've smartly bought, to use our excellent academy and get in a few chaps made by Chelsea. We saw it last season, and we were progressing well in that aspect but we fully stalled, and started regressing, and under Jose we were not showing that we were going to get back to that level. The styles you talk about from other big European clubs - we were getting there. We're so far from that now.

Favre. As interim.

An interesting question to you here:Do you genuinely believe that Jose is more or less guilt free and that our bad showings doesn't have much to do with his tactics and how he sets up and selects the team? Do you actually believe the players are performing bad because they want Mourinho sacked? That's just too simplistic a view to take. Many of us won't forget that we're here to support the club we love on Saturday either. I'm very sure of it. Yes, we love Mourinho and what he's done for the club but we love our club more, and we love watching us play regardless of what's going on. That's the attitude and atmosphere I hope to see at the Bridge on Saturday.

I was, and I went to plenty of games at the Bridge during that time as well. I was one of Benitez's biggest critics. It certainly does not feel like that at all to me. I agree that Jose is a very important person at Chelsea and definitely helped starting the CFC revolution last decade but that doesn't automatically mean he's above everything this club is about. My problem isn't even that we're a point above the relegation zone. There's far more to it than that. It's the fact that he's completely gone back on what he's promised to establish here - not just about winning, but winning in style (Jose's own words in 2013 shortly after he arrived), about developing the massive potential we had as a team when he arrived, about giving our most talented crop of youth a chance to develop. We're doing none of that so far - I genuinely wouldn't mind Jose staying if he stuck to these promises. When Jose came back I was absolutely ecstatic but I love my club more, and I enjoy the fact that we're one of the leading clubs in the country and in Europe. We weren't heading in the right direction at all anymore and Jose has even lost what would've given him more time here - the ability to churn out wins. You can't say it's an irrational sacking. There is no way a squad this talented should be in the position we are now. We're not even a mid table team at the moment. I also don't see it as a worrying time either. I think if the board get it right, it'll give us a chance to get back onto the right path. Exciting times ahead. Hopefully we start realising our potential in the long term now.

Shh.

It remains to be seen IMO whether some of these players mentioned (i.e. Cesc and Diego) are actually done here. People mentioning that Hazard should be replaced are just being ludicrous and emotional. Pedro has just arrived... Solutions exist within our squad to get the best out of some of these players that are underperforming - we don't need a massive 7/8 player overhaul at all. Our squad is decent - a couple of great additions will turn it into a great one.

He oozes blue, he's proper Chels, but that doesn't mean he's the best man for the job. By that reasoning Kenny Dalglish should still be Liverpool manager even though what he's done at the club had set them back for years and is still kind of haunting them right now. It doesn't work like that. And I'm very certain SB won't be anywhere near as toxic as you're trying to make it out to be. There's time between now and the game, things will cool off. People are there to support Chelsea FC, not Jose Mourinho. We're more than a manager. You can't tell me you were happy with the identity the club has generated under Mourinho?

Prepare for mid table football at the best for a few years then. We can't replace the likes of Hazard, Cesc and Diego in January with our youth players and expect to remain a very top team, not like this.

And how do you know they don't care about the club?

So you really think the players revolted against Mourinho essentially? What evidence do you have to prove this? This isn't the same as let's say what AVB experienced here. The players seemed very much behind Mourinho IMO.

Who should we replace them with...?

How does sacking Jose make it more likely for us to be relegated? I don't get this narrative either.

Wow. So he's actually gone. Such a shame things didn't work out. Let me say one thing though - the people that are playing the player power narrative couldn't be more wrong in my opinion. This isn't the same. The players are not revolting against Mourinho - they've come out at numerous times supporting the manager. They care. They are trying out there. It just wasn't working anymore. The player power narrative is a very poor one I think. It was far bigger than that. Players aren't underperforming because they wanted Mourinho out. Whatever was working for our players and Mourinho just isn't anymore. Which brings me onto my next point. Having a manager for a long time does not guarantee long term stability at the top level. As I said before, it's about the ethos and philosophy that the club defines. We need that defined now more than ever. This is when we bring in players AND managers that fit our defined philosophy and ethos. Jose is an absolute legend for what he's done for us and for world football in general but it just wasn't meant to be. Our results this season just were not acceptable and he including the players and the board are responsible for that. He didn't have it in him to turn it around however. How we progress from here and the moves we make from now on will be very important for the club's long term future.

I used to be in the 'keep Mourinho till the end of the season at least' crowd but honestly what's the point if he does end up going at the end of the season anyway? Why not get in a manager now (if it's not Pep who's available at the end of the season) and let him have this time to evaluate the squad, the youngsters coming through and start implementing his ideas and stuff early?

Would be a very interesting option tbh. I really like how Koeman sets his team up.

JM in 2013. How things have changed. We believed in him building something special here, with an identity, with a certain style of play. It was more than Mourinho. It was what we as a club set to do. It's certainly not that anymore though. It seems like we're Jose Mourinho FC more than Chelsea FC right now. The club is being built in his image - rather than what we wanted before. People aren't just unhappy that we aren't playing in a certain way for no reason. Jose alluded to this himself. We wanted to be more than a team that wins. We wanted to win in style. We wanted to develop our young superstars into bonafide superstars. We wanted to bring through academy players. We do not do this anymore, at all.