Jose Mourinho sent text messages to his top players wishing them 'good luck in the rest of your career'By Henry Winter, Football Correspondent
Last Updated: 6:32am BST 20/09/2007
Last Updated: 6:32am BST 20/09/2007
Jose Mourinho last night told his senior players that he was resigning as manager of Chelsea after a final fall-out with the club's billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich.
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Mourinho sent text messages to John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba wishing each of them "good luck in the rest of your career" and saying that he was leaving the club this morning.
He has been frustrated for some time with the tense situation at Chelsea, and particularly the perceived interference of Abramovich in team affairs.
Mourinho was unhappy with the £30 million arrival of Andrei Shevchenko, a striker much admired by Abramovich.
Following Chelsea's lame display in a competition Abramovich has his heart set on winning, Mourinho was yesterday summoned to a crisis meeting.
After that, Mourinho decided to resign, his frustration at Chelsea's ludicrous internal politics boiling over.
Chelsea now head to the Premiership champions, Manchester United, on Sunday without their charismatic coach.
At the heart of yesterday's final fall-out between Mourinho and Abramovich is the owner's desire for more attractive football, the type of free-flowing attacking game that Chelsea have failed to manage consistently under Mourinho.
While the Portuguese manager was winning back-to-back League titles, an uneasy peace lingered - but when results began to slip, Abramovich's displeasure became obvious.
The Russian walked out early from Chelsea's 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa earlier this season, and he will not have enjoyed Tuesday's poor result and performance.
Mourinho, 44, will go down as Chelsea's most successful manager, and the fans will lament the charismatic coach's departure.
He was voted Premiership Manager of the Year in 2005 and 2006, and he will not be short of job offers. Chelsea's board must now quickly call a meeting with Terry, Lampard, Drogba.
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