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It's back! The Mourinho apocalypse, the Moupocalypse is back! Like a wet, moldy blanket offering zero comfort and plenty of disease, it's back. It had been avoided once before, even though it supposedly had reached a point of no return. But now, thanks to the 1-0 home loss to newly promoted and firmly in the relegation zone Bournemouth, it's back.
The silly sensationalists at the Mirror lead the charge, claiming that even if Chelsea beat Porto to advance to the knockout round of the Champions League, that may not be enough to save his job. Granted, that would run contrary to the strong words and actions from the Chelsea board (and, presumably, the owner) during all this time in support of the manager, but things can change pretty quickly in football. Unfortunately, the one thing that doesn't seem to be changing is our success in turning the season around.
Jose Mourinho trying to turn Chelsea's season around like.. pic.twitter.com/rVKqhjYmuG
— Coral (@Coral) December 5, 2015
Slightly less silly sensationalist Miguel Delaney, writing in the Independent, is running with the version that Mourinho would have to win on Wednesday to stay in the job. A loss would consign Chelsea to the Europa League — which, in my opinion, we'd have as much chance of winning as the Champions League — and consign Mourinho onto the discarded pile of managers for the second time. A loss, Delaney writes, "could force the owner's hand" — presumably force it into something other than just facepalming.
Good exclusive from the Mail on the new range of Abramovich emojis pic.twitter.com/iAwowVb7T4
— Ed Malyon (@eaamalyon) December 5, 2015
Mourinho's incredible support from the fans has started waning as well. The reaction of the crowd at the final whistle on Saturday was decidedly mixed, with perhaps more than just a few boos heard, even. His support in our decidedly non-scientific polling has dropped fairly significantly, from a strong 76% to a weak majority of 57%. While that's more than enough to win presidential elections, it may not be enough to save The Special One this time.