UNITED KINGDOM / FILE: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Jose Mourinho visits Chelsea stadium possibly for the last time after leaving his manager's post

Jose Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge on Thursday (September 20) after saying goodbye to his players at their training ground in Surrey. Chelsea announced on Thursday that the coach had left the club "by mutual consent" and later went on to tell fans "Jose did not resign and he was not sacked". The statement continued that "the relationship between the club and Jose had broken down". Mourinho was seen driving from the Cobham training ground on Thursday morning after saying goodbye to his players. The training session was taken by Avram Grant and Steve Clarke, both appointed by the club to take control of the first team in Mourinho's absence. There will be a news conference about the appointments on Friday (September 21) afternoon. After arriving home after training, player Frank Lampard refused a reporter's request for a comment. Grant and Clarke could hardly face a tougher task in their first match, which sees them travelling to Old Trafford for a Premier League clash with champions Manchester United on Sunday. Former Israel coach Grant, 52, is Chelsea's Director of Football while Clarke, 44, is an ex-Chelsea and Scotland fullback who has been working as assistant coach under Mourinho. Clarke played 421 matches for the west London club between 1986 and 1998, the fifth-highest total in their history. Mourinho, who was contracted until 2010, was hired by Chelsea's Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich in 2004 with a brief to break Manchester United and Arsenal's domination of English soccer and make Chelsea the best club in Europe. The former Porto boss made a stunning impact in his debut season by winning the title, Chelsea's first since 1955 and charming the media with his sharp sense of humour. The self-styled "special one" repeated the feat in 2006, but failed to make it a hat-trick last season when they finished second to Manchester United. Rumours began to surface last year that Abramovich was losing patience with Mourinho and was demanding a more attractive brand of soccer. The signing of AC Milan's Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko, a close friend of Abramovich, also appeared to cause friction between coach and owner. The signing of German player Michael Ballack was also seen as an decision not approved by Mourinho. Two Chelsea fans outside the club's stadium in west London gave their reaction on Thursday. "I think this was all a set-up. I think this was premeditated. They found an opportunity, they haven't won in, like, four games and I think the signing of Schevchenko and Ballack nailed his coffin. I don't think they were his signings. Schevchenko was like a son to Abramovich. So when you leave the owner's son out of his own business, that's death," said one. "I know they are talking about Grant taking charge, but as far as I know he's just a guy who has come from Portsmouth where he's been director of football there so whether he's going to have the coaching staff and the playing staff behind him or not is going to be difficult to say," said the other. Already fans and sports writers have put forward a list of those who may be considered as Mourinho's replacement. They include Russian national coach Guus Hiddink, recently in London for his team's Euro 2008 qualifier against England, Juventus manager Didier Deschamps, former Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello, who was sacked in June, and Barcelona's manager Frank Rijkaard.

ITN Source | September 21, 2007

Tags:. .boss. .premier. .replacement. .reaction. .difficult