skeepe said:
I can't find a similar article online (although I'm sure there's one out there as I doubt Peter Kenyon would have spoken directly with the Canberra Times), but the reason given for Mourinho's departure was that the club had outgrown him. Apparently, Mourinho doesn't fit in with the culture that Abramovich wants - Mourinho's culture was that he believes in a work ethic and selfless approach, whilst Abramovich wants to pack the team with superstars, regardless of their worth to the team, so he can make Chelsea the most recognisable brand in the world.
Unbelievable. I didn't like Mourinho at all, but to be sacked for trying to instill a winning culture and then using the players that best suited that culture? I simply can't believe it.
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Sunday September 23, 2007
The Observer
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Tuesday, 10pm, home dressing room, Stamford Bridge. Andriy Shevchenko is taking Michael Essien to task on his performance in the night's embarrassing 1-1 draw with Rosenborg. The former European footballer of the year tells Africa's finest midfielder that he tried to make too many passes through the centre of the Norwegians' formation where '70 percent of their players were'. Essien learns he should have been passing to the wings 'where they only had 30 percent of their men'
Not the most insightful of tactical advice, but then these are not the thoughts of a Ukraine international, they are those of a Russian billionaire. Standing beside Shevchenko, tactics board in hand, Roman Abramovich is the man telling Essien how to play football. Shevchenko is merely there to translate. In another room, attending to the press, Mourinho is utterly unaware of his employer's actions.
Champions League-winning coach was replaced on Thursday by Avram Grant, a former Israel national team coach with no experience of club management outside his own country. According to many Chelsea sources,
Grant will defer on football matters to owner Roman Abramovich, who has already started to take a hands-on role with the first team.
Former academy coach Brendan Rogers has been drafted in to help out with the first team, a promotion that may not be unconnected to the one-on-one training sessions he gave Abramovich's son. Only in Steve Clarke is there the level of football knowledge to deal with a squad full of international superstars. As the sole survivor of Mourinho's cadre of four assistant managers, the Scotsman has an unenviable task.
But then neither he nor Grant will be picking the team. As Michael Essien discovered on Tuesday night, the new manager of Chelsea is also the owner.
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