Mourinho walked out with Chelsea's Old Trafford battle plans

omgukilledkenny SG

Avram Grant's preparations for yesterday's clash against Manchester United were thrown into chaos after it emerged Jose Mourinho left the training ground last week with his scouting reports on the opposition.

The new Chelsea chief had to start from scratch when Mourinho departed at 10am last Thursday with the detailed dossiers and form guides on key United players that had been prepared for him by opposition scout Andre Villas.

Chelsea players, who usually have a clear indication of the team a day in advance of a match, were also left in the dark about the line-up until 2pm yesterday.

Grant did not take the players for training on Saturday because he was observing Yom Kippur and, to the dismay of senior players, he delayed revealing the team until he arrived at their hotel in Manchester.

Mourinho had been due to give the players their individual dossiers after they returned from a day off following the 1-1 draw with Rosenborg on Thursday morning.

That was until Mourinho left the club "by mutual consent" on Wednesday evening.

Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich gave consent for Mourinho to say goodbye and pick up his personal effects from the club's training ground last Thursday, but probably didn't realise the Portuguese had departed with his scouting reports and other statistical data.

stellazio SG

I am sure in time to come, Roman will look back and realize that he made a big mistake even though he might not want to admit it.

Grant is a disaster. Rolling Eyes

innosaint SG

Jose already started his "revenge" the min after the 'mutual consent' to leave the club.

Now he only need to join Spurs to complete his revenge fully! Twisted Evil

SumOne SG

So where does your allegiance lie?

dragg SG

he must be laughing in front of his telly.

Slipshade SG

Hahahaha! Yes indeed... Grant should do it on his own instead of using Mourinho's plans. Show me what you can do, Grant. But first, please go get your license. Rolling Eyes

Inzaghi SG

will the followings a possible?..

1) KO n end up bottom of the gp in the CL
2) end season outside top 6..missed even UEFA spot
3) didnt managed to progress further than qtr final of FA cup n League cup..

possible?..

zocoss SG

Actually i really don't think letting Jose go was a mistake at all... I guess it had been coming since last season. Jose is a good football coach, if football was the only concern then he is perfect for the job. But present day football require more than just results on the field. A good PR or an attractive brand of style is as important if you aspire to be a top club. The ambition Roman has is reasonable considering the amount he his put in.

If we take a look at Barcelona's faith over the last few years you can see something quite similar. From the early 2000 to 2003 or 04, They were nothing anymore... A lot of people lost interest in them, cos Real were playing better and more attractive football. They were considered a "sleeping giant". It was not until Frank Rijkaard's arrival that changed their team around that more started to take an interest on them again. Ronaldinho, Eto'o came and they started playing a kind of football that people and ordinary football fans would pay money to watch... and in this way, increase their fan base further...

Jose was doing a good job on the field but a terrible one off it... He was dragging Chelsea's good name into the mud so offen with his silly behaviour that it was becoming almost impossible to like the club from a neutral point of view. Of course now that he is gone, and also in such a sudden way... a lot of people feel for him cos many felt that he was entertaining in the epl. My look on this is, yes is was entertaining... he was funny at times and also a total disgust with his taunting and accusation of other club managers and players.

In short, he was fun to have around if he wasn't the manager of the club you support... But if you were in the Chelsea's owner or directors / management shoes... You can get upset almost every few weeks cos he is dragging their club's name through the mud again and again.

Is Grant a disaster, well... i am not too sure but time will tell. Anyway, mourinho's last few games wasn't exactly great either... he seem to be losing the plot and have lost some of the players hearts and even had an argument with club captain Terry for going behind his back... My guess is had mourinho stayed on, that result at OT was still likely to be as his last away match at Villa also ended with a 0 - 2 lost and their last 2 home matches against weaker teams ended in a draw. Don't blame Grant for it... the team is going through a bad patch and he also didn't had the services of Drogba and Lampard too.

stellazio SG

Letting Jose go might not be a total disaster, but letting him go so early into the season without a proper replacement is a disaster.

You can tell that the new manager effect won't work for Grant, firstly cause the players already know all about him as he was a technical director of football, secondly they also believed that he had something to do with Jose's sacking, something which 98% of them didn't want to happen.

Since they dislike Grant, who will want to play for him? The players will only be playing for their contracts till end of season before asking for a transfer. Not in the same way as the players would die for Mourinho.

brokenluv SG

if mourinho chooses to go to a team that will battle chelsea soon enuff, chelsea's weakness all kena expose.Afterall he's their coach for 3 years, he knows the team inside out.

zocoss SG

What make you think that they didn't had a proper replacement? I understand that on your mind, Grant is a total waste of time but Chelsea spent quite a number of months searching for a replacement last season with no fewer than 13 names being mentioned... And i think it's no coincidence that this Grant just joint them 2 months ago...

Perhap he was being groom to takeover from mourinho already. The board probably felt confident that he can do a proper job considering that he was appointed bearly 12 hours after they announce that mourinho was out. It seems like they already knew what they wanted to do.

The "New Manager Effect" doesn't alway work. A lot of managers start off their career at a new club with a lost too. He may have been a technical director of football with chelsea but if reports are to belief, Jose didn't allow him to get near the first team. Jose's sacking probably didn't have anything to do with him... Jose's sacking was actually expected since the middle of last season when jose started indirectly insulting the owner and board of not giving him money to spend after he had already spent $80 over million only in June.

And i wouldn't agree with you that 98% of the first team didn't want it to happen... Cos Chelsea have a first team of 28 players... Just a Shevchenko alone would make it 3.5% already... How about the Joe Cole, Carlo Cudicini and Ballack... And those who are probably neutral to the sacking like... Pizarro, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Steve Sidwell, Belletti, Ben-Haim, Salomon Kalou, Alex and Makelele... I would only count Drogba, Lampard, Essien, Carvalho, Cech and Ashley Cole as those who didn't want to see him sack. Others like Paulo Ferreira and Terry... well, i think they don't really care... Terry already have his $135,000 a wk pay so why will he be bother with Jose staying or leaving. Therefore i think we can put it at 20 plus percent didn't want to see him go... But a new manager means a new opportunity for the others... so why not? A challenging time for the neutral players to gain a place in the team as well as the pro-mourinho players to keep their places.

stellazio SG

Grant is crap la, they could have easily hired a big name manager cum end of last season after the FA cup.

I don't believe that the Chelsea board actually thinks that Grant is the right man to lead the club on following Mourinho's departure considering his lack of experience. And if reports are to be believed, the players don't like Grant at all, after he was always asking them questions about Jose methods and whether they liked him or not.

Ok my 98% might be exaggerated but its not a lie to say that majority of the players especially the first team ones did not want Jose to go.

hisoka SG

letting jose go may not be the wrong thing, but the timing seems wrong.

should have been done at the break. and not so last min also.

and it does seem that they don't have a proper replacement. unless grant was taken as the proper replacement, but given the lack of credentials and even certification, thats rather doubtful

798 SG

i have a feeling tis Grant is just a stand in manager to warm the seat.

maybe RA want dat holland coach to be the next manager since he was there to watch the manu vs chelsea match.

turbo_drift SG

Capello: Chelsea want Marco
Holland manager reportedly lined up by Chelsea

Fabio Capello has claimed that Chelsea are keen to appoint Marco van Basten as manager.

Chelsea moved quickly to place Avram Grant in charge following Jose Mourinho's shock departure last week.

However, speculation suggests the club are assessing other options for the long-term future, and a number of high-profile managers have been linked with the position.

Van Basten was at Old Trafford on Sunday to watch Chelsea's 2-0 defeat to Manchester United, and was seen sitting close to Roman Abramovich.

Former Real Madrid boss Capello has now revealed that van Basten's name was put forward to Abramovich by Chelsea technical director Frank Arnesen.

"Arnesen wants van Basten to take over and has already recommended him to Abramovich," Capello is quoted as saying in The Sun.

"Frank and Marco know each other well from their time in Dutch football."

It remains to be seen whether Chelsea will step up their pursuit of Van Basten, but he is likely to be tied up until at least November, when Holland complete their Euro 2008 qualification campaign.

The man who was death SG

if chelsea can’t get those top class managers, i really wonder which second tier mangers would wanna go there considering the witchhunt for grant….