Official: Jose Mourinho out as Chelsea manager

Reports emerged on Thursday morning that Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho had been relieved of his duties, and now we have confirmation from the club. The Blues have, indeed, parted ways with the best manager in their history for the second time in a decade, following the worst start to a season in the Portuguese tactician's career.

For now, the Blues will reportedly turn to a familiar face in Dutchman Guus Hiddink, the only manager who I remember just as fondly as I do Mourinho. It's a far, far better decision than the one made the last time we went interim shopping, and hired the soon-to-be unemployed-as-well Rafa Benitez.

It will be a real test for the interim manager, as the holiday period is extremely busy in England, and won't leave him very much time in training to work on making changes. We'll probably have to hope that the shock following Mourinho's exit is enough to energize the squad for this stretch of matches, and with any luck, we'll see the boys begin to move away from the relegation zone, and toward the European places, instead.