Chelsea's website hailed Jose Mourinho on Thursday as the best manager in the club's 110-year history but it did not stop Russian owner Roman Abramovich firing him for the second time in eight years.
One sacking could be considered risky but a repeat performance just a few months after handing the Portuguese a new four-year contract appears foolhardy, even in the mad world of Premier League football.
Chelsea fans who were taking in the news outside Stamford Bridge spoke of their shock. They criticised the club for a lack of loyalty to a manager who delivered three Premier League titles and numerous other trophies during his two spells in charge. They should be used to it.
After all, this is the club that sacked Italian Roberto Di Matteo a few months after he delivered Champions League glory in 2012 and got rid of Carlo Ancelotti a year after he won the 2010 Premier League and FA Cup double. But Mourinho is different.
Ever since walking into Stamford Bridge for the first time in 2004, calling himself "A Special One", he has commanded the complete loyalty of the fans. He also won one FA Cup and three League Cups and used the Abramovich millions to sign some of the finest players in the game. Mourinho may even have led them to the Champions League crown, the only gap on his Chelsea CV, this season but we will never know.
Even with nine defeats in the first 16 Premier League games, a calamitous start for any club, let alone champions, the supporters have still sung his name continuously.
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