Goodbye, Mourinho: End of Chelsea's Premiership Campaign?

It's strange to say this, as Jose Mourinho seemed to regard my club Charlton as nothing more than a drop in the ocean...

But I'm going to miss the grump.

Mourinho turned the Premiership into a three-team league after years of the top two teams swapping titles between them. If it's true that Chelsea sacked the manager, the question virtually asks itself:

Why?

Why in god's name would you run off your most successful manager in 50 years?

This is almost as laughable as Tottenham looking to replace Martin Jol. It seems the Lemming style of commercial and sporting suicide is still alive and well.

I know it's early, but surely Mourinho's departure is too devastating for the Chelsea players to recover from. I don't know of many teams where captain and manager are as close as John Terry and Mourinho were—and I certainly don't foresee any manager taking up the legacy left by the "Special One."

Mourinho left his mark in just under three years at Chelsea, and what a mark it was: two Premiership wins, a win each in the FA and Carling Cups, and no less than two Champions League quarterfinals.

Mourinho was building for the future, but it appears that red tape and political correctness within the heart of the Blue Lion club has forced him out.

And for that, more than anything else, I sympathise with him.

Yes, I may hate the arrogance and the attitude, but there are few managers with Mourinho's character and determination. His passing from the Premier league isn't just a crying shame—it's a tragedy.

It seems to me that only a Russian billionaire could miss the point so entirely: When you're onto a winner of a manager, sacking him three years in is nothing short of crass stupidity.

I mentioned earlier that Mourinho was the most successful Chelsea manager in the last 50 years. I wonder what the Russian Oil Baron knows of his own club's history.

Despite a win against Hull in the Carling Cup, there's no indication that Chelsea will be able to weather the shock of the shakeup. How many players will leave during the January transfer window?

The players' loyalty to Mourinho is commendable, and I wonder whether Grant and Abramovich have the character to deal with a dressing room mutiny.

I defy even Terry, most loyal to the Special One, to tell me he's happy to play under a man with no coaching qualifications whatsoever.

So it comes down to this, really:

Goodbye Mourinho. Unbelievably, despite everything, we'll miss you.