Grant and Clarke take control at Chelsea
Enlarge imageBy Mike Collett and Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) - Avram Grant and Steve Clarke will take charge of Chelsea’s first team from Thursday following Jose Mourinho’s departure, the club said in a statement.
The announcement on Chelsea’s Web site (www.chelseafc.com) did not say if the jobs were permanent.
The pair could hardly face a tougher task in their first match which sees them travelling to Old Trafford for the Premier League clash with champions Manchester United on Sunday.
"The club is delighted that in Avram we have an experienced man who can come in immediately at this difficult time to help deliver our objectives," the statement said.
"In Steve we have a Chelsea man and he will be a crucial part of the management team going forward," it added.
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 left Chelsea on Wednesday by "mutual consent" just six games into the season, the club said on Thursday.
"Chelsea Football Club and Jose Mourinho have agreed to part company today by mutual consent," said .....continued below
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the club’s Web site.The confirmation followed media reports which said senior players, including captain John Terry, received text messages from their Portuguese manager informing them he was leaving.
Mourinho, who was contracted until 2010, was hired by Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich in 2004 with a brief to break Manchester United and Arsenal’s domination of English football 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.
Mourinho also won two League Cups and the FA Cup for Chelsea and had the remarkable distinction of never losing a home league game during his glittering reign.
However, European success eluded him and probably hastened his downfall. Chelsea twice lost to Liverpool in the Champions League semi-finals -- last season on penalties.
ATTRACTIVE BRAND
Rumours began to surface last year that Abramovich was losing patience with Mourinho and was demanding a more attractive brand of football.
The signing of AC Milan’s Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko, a close friend of Abramovich, also appeared to cause friction between coach and owner.
Chelsea have begun this season poorly by their own high standards, although they did top the table briefly at the end of August.
However, a lacklustre 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa was followed by a dull 0-0 draw at home to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday that left them fifth in the table.
Mourinho bemoaned his luck in typical fashion.
Page: 12next
By Mike Collett and Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) - Avram Grant and Steve Clarke will take charge of Chelsea’s first team from Thursday following Jose Mourinho’s departure, the club said in a statement.
The announcement on Chelsea’s Web site (www.chelseafc.com) did not say if the jobs were permanent.
The pair could hardly face a tougher task in their first match which sees them travelling to Old Trafford for the Premier League clash with champions Manchester United on Sunday.
"The club is delighted that in Avram we have an experienced man who can come in immediately at this difficult time to help deliver our objectives," the statement said.
"In Steve we have a Chelsea man and he will be a crucial part of the management team going forward," it added.
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 left Chelsea on Wednesday by "mutual consent" just six games into the season, the club said on Thursday.
"Chelsea Football Club and Jose Mourinho have agreed to part company today by mutual consent," said the club’s Web site.
The confirmation followed media reports which said senior players, including captain John Terry, received text messages from their Portuguese manager informing them he was leaving.
Mourinho, who was contracted until 2010, was hired by Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich in 2004 with a brief to break Manchester United and Arsenal’s domination of English football 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.
Mourinho also won two League Cups and the FA Cup for Chelsea and had the remarkable distinction of never losing a home league game during his glittering reign.
However, European success eluded him and probably hastened his downfall. Chelsea twice lost to Liverpool in the Champions League semi-finals -- last season on penalties.
ATTRACTIVE BRAND
Rumours began to surface last year that Abramovich was losing patience with Mourinho and was demanding a more attractive brand of football.
The signing of AC Milan’s Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko, a close friend of Abramovich, also appeared to cause friction between coach and owner.
Chelsea have begun this season poorly by their own high standards, although they did top the table briefly at the end of August.
However, a lacklustre 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa was followed by a dull 0-0 draw at home to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday that left them fifth in the table.
Mourinho bemoaned his luck in typical fashion.
"You cannot make an omelette without eggs," he said, referring to injured internationals Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack.
Tuesday’s disappointing 1-1 Champions League draw at home to Norwegian outsiders Rosenborg Trondheim in front of just 25,000 unhappy fans proved the final act of a remarkable period in Chelsea’s history, but Mourinho walks away with a tremendous record.
Of the 120 league games he took charge of, Chelsea won 85, drew 25 and lost just 10.
© 2008 Reuters Click for restrictions
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