Jose Mourinho Reportedly Sacked by Chelsea

Jose Mourinho finds himself fighting for a job due to reigning Premier League champions Chelsea's struggle at the bottom half of the table.

BBC Sports editor Dan Roan reported "Mourinho has just been told by Chelsea he has been sacked as manager." Sam Wallace of the Daily Telegraph later reported Guus Hiddink will replace Mourinho for the remainder of the 2015-16 season.

This comes after the Daily Telegraph's Matt Law reported Dec. 6 Chelsea would attempt to buy their way out of trouble in the January transfer window.

"Roman Abramovich will be forced to pay Mourinho more than £40 million if he fires the Chelsea manager at an emergency board meeting on Wednesday," reported Neil Ashton and Matt Barlow of the Daily Mail on Wednesday. Ashton and Barlow cited that hefty fee—resulting from his recently agreed-upon four-year, £250,000-a-week deal—as one of the primary factors behind the board's hesitancy to show Mourinho the door.

Chelsea fell to their ninth loss of the league campaign when they were beaten by Leicester, 2-1, at the King Power Stadium on Monday. The result left the Blues with only 15 points from 16 matches, 20 points behind the leaders.

Mourinho received a vote of confidence by the board on Oct. 5, per the Press Association (via the Daily Mail). However, results have not improved, with the Blues winning just two of their eight Premier League contests since then. That has left Chelsea's season in tatters ahead of the January window.

"I don't think the owner is a person to change with the wind," Mourinho said on Dec. 8, prior to Chelsea's Champions League clash with Porto, per ESPN's Miguel Delaney. 

"I know the wind of the results are really strong. But I know he feels I am best to do [the] job. I don't speak more about the owner," the Portuguese added at the time.