Jose Mourinho‘s second tenure as Chelsea manager came to an end on Thursday, as the west London club and defending Premier League champions decided to part ways after a dreadful start to the 2015-16 campaign. 

Chelsea Football Club and Jose Mourinho have today parted company by mutual consent.

All at Chelsea thank Jose for his immense contribution since he returned as manager in the summer of 2013.

His three league titles, FA Cup, Community Shield and three League Cup wins over two spells make him the most successful manager in our 110-year history. But both Jose and the board agreed results have not been good enough this season and believe it is in the best interests of both parties to go our separate ways.

The club wishes to make clear Jose leaves us on good terms and will always remain a much-loved, respected and significant figure at Chelsea. His legacy at Stamford Bridge and in England has long been guaranteed and he will always be warmly welcomed back to Stamford Bridge.

The club’s focus is now on ensuring our talented squad reaches its potential.

There will be no further comment until a new appointment is made.  

Sam Wallaceof the Daily Telegraph reported Dutch manager Gus Hiddink, who was interim Blues boss in 2009, will take over for the rest of the season. Hiddink won the FA Cup with the club during his previous stint.

After an awful run of results, the 2-1 away defeat to Leicester City on Monday evening was clearly the final straw for the Blues hierarchy. The champions are just one point clear of the Premier League’s relegation zone.

Mourinho returned to the Chelsea bench in 2013 after spells with Inter Milan and Real Madrid and guided the club to the Premier League title last season. However, their start to the new campaign couldn’t have gone much worse.

A loss against Arsenal in the Community Shield was followed by three losses in the club’s first five Premier League matches, the same amount of defeats the Blues suffered during the entire 2014-15 campaign.

A 2-0 win over Arsenal in September appeared to be the turning point, but more defeats followed in quick succession, along with a host of controversy.

There was an incident with then-team doctor Eva Carneiro, via the Daily Mail‘s Matt Lawton, as well as a lengthy battle with the Football Association after Mourinho alleged bias from the officials after a 3-1 loss against Southampton, per Sky Sports.

In the weeks following the match against Southampton, Mourinho continued making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

A video surfaced in which he appeared to shove a teenager on the street, per BBC Sport, and he was sent to the stands after reportedly trying to force his way into the referee’s dressing room at half-time during the 2-1 defeat to West Ham United, via Fox Soccer.

Respite did not arrive with the recent fourth round of the Capital One Cup as the defending champions were knocked out on penalties after a 1-1 draw with Stoke City—the Blues’ 2014-15 star player, Eden Hazard, missed the decisive spot kick. Defeats to Liverpool, Stoke, Bournemouth and then Leicester followed in the league.

With the results on the pitch not going Chelsea’s way and the many controversies surrounding Mourinho, his sacking became inevitable.

Mourinho is one of the most successful managers of this generation and was the man who first led the Blues to the top of the football world between 2004 and 2007. As a tactician and a motivator, he has few equals, and his track record with FC Porto, Chelsea and Inter―and even Real Madrid, to a lesser extent―is impressive.

But controversy seems to follow “The Special One” wherever he goes. He left the Blues in September of 2007, just weeks into the new campaign, setting the team back for the remainder of the season. His most successful spell with Inter followed, winning the treble, but in Madrid, silverware was relatively scarce, and more issues surfaced.

Mourinho clashed with captain and club legend Iker Casillas, via ESPN FC’s Graham Hunter, and Mourinho lasted just three seasons with Real before returning to west London.

The Blues will now have to turn attention to securing a permanent manager, but with Jurgen Klopp accepting the position at Liverpool, options are slim. Carlo Ancelotti is the most high-profile name available, but he is reportedly set to join Bayern Munich at the end of the season, per Sami Mokbel of the Daily Mail.

However, shock reports surfaced earlier in the week suggesting that Juande Ramos, the former Tottenham Hotspur managerial flop, has been cited as a potential replacement, as reported by Matt Hughes for the Times.

Mourinho will likely take some time away from the game to find his bearings and give his reputation a chance to recover from the many controversies that haunted him the last couple of months. Given his impressive record of success, he’s bound to find another high-profile position once he returns to football.

Don’t be shocked if French giants Paris Saint-Germain make a move for his services. Laurent Blanc has been consistently unable to deliver European success, and if he fails to do so again in 2015-16, Mourinho would be the perfect candidate to replace him.

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