Update: Avram Grant (the director of football brought in from Pompey) is set to takeover at Chelsea. My bet is that he’s going to be there till January or May max, when Chelsea are going to poach either Ramos or Rijkaard (and Ronaldinho as well).

I’ll leave the debate on why Jose Mourinho has left Chelsea (the departure has been confirmed by Chelsea FC, and the official word is that he left by mutual consenst) – my opinion on this won’t change facts and at the end of they day we’ll find out soon once Jose Mourinho decides to speak to the press.

Chelsea’s future is one of concern, albeit on a personal level not as much of a concern as that of Jose Mourinho’s future. Let’s look at the different possibilities for each (and I’m not kidding or baiting with Tottenham there, just bear with me on this).

Chelsea’s Future

Who will take over from Mourinho at Chelsea? I don’t think Roman Abramovich would have sanctioned this event without having replacements lined up, so one can expect Chelsea to announce a replacement very soon. My guess is that Roman will bring in someone very soon – whether it’s Hiddink, Capello, Lippi, Ramos, Klinsmann or Martin Jol (kidding about that last one).

Considering the large number of managers that have been linked with Chelsea’s ‘now vacant’ managerial post, it’s hard to recall them all, so please do me a favor and predict who you think will take over in the comments.

Regardless of what happens in the future, two things must be said. One, this is an unfortunate event and not something to laugh crassly about. The players and the club are in temporary limbo, and while the show will go on with Chelsea due to play Manchester United at Old Trafford it’ll be tough on the players and things must have gone really bad for this to happen before such a crucial game. Without Mourinho at the helm, it’s hard to see Chelsea win the Premiership this season.

Two, we have to stop and give credit where credit is due – Mourinho’s reign as Chelsea manager in the last 3 seasons is an overwhelming success. He turned Chelsea into a formidable side and in the process revolutionised the Premiership – his accomplishments deserve a separate article, so all I’ll say here is that despite his antics I’ll miss Mourinho if he leaves the Premiership.

Thing is – there’s a good chance he’ll stay. I would imagine that Abramovich / Kenyon would have some agreement with Mourinho forbidding him to join a rival club in the Premiership (otherwise they have made a very big mistake).

By the way, another chance for replacing Mourinho at Chelsea is Frank Rijkaard – and if you remember the Ronaldinho bid Chelsea made at the end of August, there’s a chance that Ronny will be in tow.

This brings us to the next question – where will Mourinho go?

Mourinho to…Tottenham

Mourinho’s family is settled in London, so there’s little reason for him to leave IF he can find suitable employment. And with the Tottenham board looking to replace Martin Jol but failing to line up any replacements, once they hear of Mourinho being available there’s every chance that they will approach him with a view of bringing him in to take Tottenham to the Champions League.

In the state Tottenham are in at the moment, Jose Mourinho, hated or not, would be a fantastic prospect as manager. Mourinho comes with baggage and a personality that can be quite annoying but he’s an excellent man-manager and he has the discipline to mould Tottenham into Champions League hopefuls. The question is – will he accept the offer if it comes, and will the fans accept him?

If Mourinho is to stay in England, Tottenham looks to be his most likely destination.

More questions

What will happen to Terry and Lampard? What about Drogba, Ballack and Shevchenko? Will Chelsea qualify for the Champions League next season? You can expect the bookies to install Chelsea as the most likely team to miss out on the CL now.

Chelsea management and especially the players can’t think of any of this now – they must focus on the weekend game with Manchester United.