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| Jose Mourinho was sacked as manager of Chelsea yesterday |
THE owner took training. The assistant will pick the team. The doctor is heading to the courtroom and the fortress is wide open.
Chelsea are all over the place and yet the fans will be expected to take it all in their stride come 3pm today - thanks to a call-to-arms delivered by the website guys.
"It may be hard to summon the emphatic level of support that has expressed such a statement of faith at every game," they said. "But summon it we must in order to help the players remove themselves from the predicament they are in. Nothing can be more important than Chelsea climbing the table."
The Shed Enders should not have to put up with such mealy mouthed words - plucked from the glossy brochures of a corporate mission statement.
At a time when the majority of them are wallowing uncertainly in a sense disbelief at Roman Abramovich's actions, a "pre-match briefing" article that appeared on the club's official website needed something Churchillian or Shakespearean to galvanise the club.
"We shall fight them on the pitches" or better still, "Once more unto the Bridge".
But then it was always Jose Mourinho who was the master of rhetoric. The right man in the right place to whispering into the ears of his players at the right time, calling to their inner resolve.
He was the man with a long track record of getting the very best out of the side. Only once in the last 54 seasons without him have Chelsea won a league title. Mourinho has been crowned league champion eight times in the last 13 years in four different countries.
Everywhere he went, players wanted to play for him. Even as a reporter at his first ever press conference ahead of pre-season training in the 2004-05 season, you felt the urge to pull on a pair of boots and join his army.
And yet all he has achieved at Chelsea this season is "palpable discord", according to technical director Michael Emenalo, who has completely exonerated them of any wrongdoing in taking Chelsea from top of the table to 16th in the Premier League.
So yesterday, they had to put up with Abramovich himself wandering round the leafy lawns of Cobham, mingling with them as they went through their paces.
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| Mourinho still has to attend a court case to settle the issue with former club doctor Eva Carneiro |
It will be left to Steve Holland and Eddie Newton, coaches from within the hierarchy who will step up to the plate today, to pick the team.
Meanwhile, in separate news, it emerged that amid the turmoil yesterday Chelsea had filed their defence against constructive dismissal and breach of dismissal brought by Eva Carneira - somebody with an entirely acceptable claim of "palpable discord" with Mourinho.
His dismissal will still leave him with a case to answer in the New Year - a preliminary hearing on January 6 will set the precise date. Given the clear lack of respect Mourinho showed towards her, the former club doctor could be forgiven for enjoying a wry smile at this week's developments.
But how do the players react? If they suddenly turn on the style and roll over Sunderland in front of their own fans, is it a sign they have been unyoked from the burden of Mourinho's managerial regime merely by a session spent in the presence of their Russian oligarch.
Or is the bitter truth that they were they too busy sulking and counting the roubles while Mourinho was failing to bring them out of their shells with a few collective home truths?
The relationship between the Chelsea fans and Mourinho has always been a Special One and none of the players can use the excuse of a poisonous atmosphere at Stamford Bridge for four home defeats already this season.
It might be different today if Abramovich himself becomes the target for the fans' anger. Because for the first time since he came to London he is one under pressure for the rest of the season.
Mourinho's sacking will only make sense to the fans if his long-term replacement is an improvement.
Even Diego Simeone, for all his talent and promise, can really at this stage of his career only be seen as a Mourinho-light - all the flavour, much fewer trophies.
No, for Abramovich to earn full forgiveness, yesterday's brief training ground pep-talk must be followed by more protracted Pep-talks in the summer.
It's Guardiola or bust. Abramovich must go all-out to deliver the Extra Special One.
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