Mo the Ho, has left the building

The self proclaimed “delusional one” (me being the “proclaimist” – is this even a word??) had decided that he has had enough and has quit Chelsea.

This is HUGE news in the footballing world. The man who has bought and brought 2 league titles, one FA Cup and 2 worthless cups is gone. It can be easily argued that he has been the greatest coach Chelsea has ever had.

He arrived at Chelsea with a lot of hoopla in 2004, proclaiming himself as the “special one” after winning the Champions League with Porto. The owner gave him the money and resources (that is money to buy players) he needed to bring glory to the club.

For most footballing nuts, it is evident why he has left. For those not in the know, the relationship between Jose and the billionaire owner of Chelsea, Roman Abramovich has deteriorated over the past 12 months through a series of public spats between the two.

Roman has a stated aim of winning the Champions League title but this has not been fulfilled (thanks to real teams like Liverpool). Further, the tem has not had a good run during the premiership season with a loss to Aston Villa and a draw against Blackburn.

Things culminated with a draw against that powerhouse of Norwegian football – Rosenburg yesterday. Further, the match was enjoyed by a half full Stamford Bridge (clearly all those Chelsea supporters have jumped of the bandwagon and are probably on their way to Emirates Stadium).

The style of play seems to have also turned off quite a few with Chelsea succumbing to the long ball style of game instead of the quick passing, exciting styles other teams play on.

Something had to give and it was Mo the Ho!

So what now for Chelsea – speculation about a new coach will become rampant and my money is on Guus Hiddink. He is currently coach of Russia, where a large proportion of his salary is paid by Roman. Guus has coached a national team and a club side in the past (Australia and PSV Eindhoven) so could do the same here, given that Russia may not qualify for Euro 2008)

There are others who may be keen – Jurgen Klinsman was purported as a replacement for Jose’ over the past summer. Names such as Phil Scolari and Didier Deschamps are also being mentioned.

As for Jose, I am sure he will get offers and will take some time to see what he will do. I am sure the position of coaching Portugal will be of interest to him. If the England FA is half as smart as they make out to be, they should consider him for the England job.

Chelsea – well those guys have a big match against Manchester United this weekend. They will also play MU without Frank Lampard, Drogba and Carvalho and now no coach. Who knows what could happen. MU could have the easiest match against Chelsea in some time or could face a fired up team wanting to make a statement.