Mourinho On The Brink: Players Expect Exit, Reps Sound Out New Club For Special One

Jose Mourinho’s second spell as Chelsea boss looks to be drawing to a close with widespread reports today claiming the so-called ‘Special One’ is on the brink of leaving Stamford Bridge.

The Portuguese coach has endured one of the most difficult months of his managerial career that began with him being slapped with a £50,000 fine and a suspended one-match stadium ban after he criticised referee Bob Madley following Chelsea’s home defeat to Southampton.

Mourinho is now facing another FA misconduct charge and the threat of a lengthy stadium ban after being sent to the stands for confronting referee Jon Moss at half-time during Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to West Ham on Saturday.

It’s Mourinho behavior as much as the poor results that have left many feeling that the 52-year-old is in the middle of a real crisis and it seems the players are bracing themselves for his exit from Stamford Bridge.

The Mirror are reporting today that senior players have indicated they have been left bemused by the manager’s recent behaviour and they feel it’s a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’ he will be sacked.

The newspaper suggests that defeat to Liverpool on Saturday is likely to be the final straw for owner Roman Abramovich and it appears Mourinho is already preparing himself for life after Chelsea.

The Independent claim that his representatives have already sounded out Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain to discuss a potential move in-case the Portuguese coach is relieved of his duties at Stamford Bridge.

The paper also says that Chelsea officials have made tentative contact with Carlo Ancelotti to see if he’d be interested in replacing Mourinho, so it does look like the writing is on the wall.

However, there could still be a major stumbling block that may give Mourinho more time in the Stamford Bridge hot-seat as the Independent claim that Abramovich is reluctant to pay the £30m severance deal that would be owed to the boss if he was sacked.

Mourinho only signed a new four-year contract in August and it’s understood he would demand this would be paid-up in full – something Abramovich is keen to avoid – so unless a compromise deal could be reached, Mourinho could still avoid the chop even if Chelsea end up losing to Liverpool this weekend.

It’s certainly an intriguing situation and one that Mourinho has never found himself in during his career. Some feel he’s too good a manager not to turn things around while others believe he’s gone past the point of no return.

Even more pressure could be put on Mourinho’s shoulders if Chelsea crash out of the Capital One Cup at Stoke this evening but I still think his future could be decided on Saturday when Liverpool head to West London.

What do you think? Is it time for Mourinho to be sacked?