“Chelsea cannot have a better manager than me. There are many managers in the world who belong to my level but not better. Not better. If the club sacks me they sack the best manager this club ever had.” thesE  were the words of Jose Mourinho few months ago as his Chelsea team slide deeper into the mud.

Well Chelsea have dared him, by sacking the ‘Special one’ following his team’s disastrous defence to their title this season, having lost nine games already out of a possible sixteen. Mourinho has been the best ever manager for the London club but this time around he has failed woeful to stare the team towards the right direction.

Inevitablbly, he has been given his matching order this afternoon after holding a short meeting with the club chair, Bruce Buck, where he was told his service is no longer needed. And at around 14:30 GMT, the club made the announcement, which reads:

“Chelsea Football Club and Jose Mourinho have today parted company by mutual consent.

“All at Chelsea thank Jose for his immense contribution since he returned as manager in the summer of 2013.

“His three league titles, FA Cup, Community Shield and three League Cup wins over two spells make him the most successful manager in our 110-year history.

“But both Jose 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.

“The club wishes to make clear Jose leaves us on good terms and will always remain a much-loved, respected and significant figure at Chelsea.

“His legacy at Stamford Bridge and in England has long been guaranteed and he will always be warmly welcomed back to Stamford Bridge.

“The club’s focus is now on ensuring our talented squad reaches its potential.

“There will be no further comment until a new appointment is made.”

Mourinho’s sacking is a sad one no matter what you think about him as a person, but it was never surprising. As the weeks went by you can see he was loosing his touch and his relationship with the players began nose dive and his recent attacks on them show’s there were divisions in the team. He accused them of betraying him after the defeat at Leciester and again last night he made yet another audacious remarks about the players’ attitude on and off the field, which all showed he was resigned to the unprecedented situation he found himself.

Having said that, to a degree, the Portuguese manager’s egotism and stubborness was the catalyst of his down fall. His acrimonious fall out with the club doctor Eva Carneiro was without doubt a factor in putting the club into chaos.

Caniero had her role downgraded after Mourinho said his medical staff were “naive” for running onto the pitch to treat midfielder Eden Hazard. She was publicly criticised for doing no wrong. All she did infact was what she was paid to do but was given a torrid time and  eventually she left the club on 22 September and is now taking legal action against Mourinho and the Blues.

The 52 year old’s departure came on the back of  a terrible run of 9 defeat in 16 games, which by any standards is not good enough. The run left the club only a point above the relegation zone and 20 points behind leaders, Leicester. However, despite their shortcomings in the League, the Blues managed to get through to the last 16 of European football’s biggest club competition, the Champions league, where they will face French champions Paris St-Germain in February and March.

The Portuguese manager only signed a new four-year contract on 7 August and he is Chelsea’s most successful manager, having won three Premier League titles, two of those in his first spell between 2004 and 2007. He has also won the FA Cup, in 2007, and the League Cup three times – in 2005, 2007 and 2015.

Chelsea are now faced with a huge decision to find Mourinho’s successor and Roman Abramovich had to make it. However he doesnt look like he will be fazed. He might decide to bring in a temporary manager till the end of the season – something the Russian had done in the past, and in the summer he can see if he can tempt Pep Guardiola when he leaves Bayern, with increased speculations about the former Barcelona manager’s future.

However, the main task for any new manager will be to improve the morale of a talented squad that has underachieved this season. Players such as Eden Hazard, Diego Costa, Willian, and Oscar were key to Chelsea winning the league title but performances have fallen well below the heights they reached last year.

After the 2-1 defeat by Leicester Mourinho said he felt his “work was betrayed” by his players, and midfielder Cesc Fabregas has said it is time for everyone to step up.

“If you are a big player and paid like a big player, you must play like a big player and behave like a big player,” said the Spain international.