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By Clare Lovell
LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - There could be only one winner in a standoff between a billionaire club owner and his strong-minded, gifted, coach so, while the timing was a shock, Jose Mourinho's departure from Chelsea looked inevitable.
His sudden removal "by mutual consent" was the culmination of months of uncertainty at the club, gripped by tension and with a history of uneasy relationships with coaches.
Mourinho, with his charisma and big personality, leaves a big gap at the club and questions over the future of some of his most loyal players. Successor Avram Grant will not find it easy to fill the void.
Owner Roman Abramovich and Mourinho hardly spoke for much of last season after disagreements over spending, playing style and the use of Abramovich favourite Andriy Shevchenko, a 30 million pound ($60 million) signing from AC Milan, who failed to find his form at Chelsea.
Mourinho had also been forced to accept the humiliation of the appointment of Grant as director of football. The Israeli, until now a shadowy figure who had been quietly advising Abramovich, now steps into the coaching role after breathing down Mourinho's neck in the dugout since the start of the season.
Mourinho's outspokenness and volatility had caused Chelsea's touchy bosses some embarrassment since they appointed him fresh from his Champions League triumph with Porto in 2004.
He clashed with soccer authorities in Europe and England, prompting touchline bans and fines and his wars of words with fellow coaches were a delight to newspaper editors.
Despite being Chelsea's most successful manager, using Abramovich's cash to great effect to fashion a team with remarkable cohesion, capable of winning back to back championships as well as three cups, Chelsea would have preferred a coach who made less noise.
POSSIBLE SUCCESSORS
During last season's tension, feelers went out for possible successors with Guus Hiddink, Didier Deschamps, Fabio Capello and Frank Rijkaard all linked with job in a frenzy of media speculation. Grant was waiting in the wings.
Mourinho, Europe's highest paid coach, wanted to stay however, even accepting Grant's appointment as director of football as long as he did not interfere.
But injuries and lack of form to key players such as last season's top scorers Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard upset his plans for the season when he said he was looking to produce more attractive soccer.
Chelsea have failed to win their last three matches and Mourinho was grim-faced and uncharacteristically critical of his squad following a raft of missed chances in Tuesday's 1-1 Champions League draw against lowly Rosenborg. He had a brief meeting with Abramovich after the game.
Fans, who chanted his name enthusiastically every match to show their support in his run-in with Abramovich last season, will be horrified at the departure of the man that has brought them unparalleled success.
They are likely to give Grant, a former Israel coach with little standing in Europe, a hard time.
They remember the drawn-out and humiliating demise of Claudio Ranieri, now Juventus boss, who coached Chelsea during Abramovich's first year in charge while the club courted candidates to succeed him.
Before Ranieri and under previous chairman Ken Bates, Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli, both high-profle crowd favourites, were dismissed suddenly and without ceremony.
More worrying for the board than disgruntled fans will be the reaction of players, particularly those such as Drogba and Lampard who are close to Mourinho and whose futures were the subject of speculation last season.
England midfielder Lampard's on-and-off contract negotiations have led to interest from Spanish clubs and British newspapers reported rumours of interest from Italy in Drogba.
Mourinho's exit leaves his successor a baptism of fire, with one of the biggest games of the season on Sunday at Manchester United. But speculation about the club's and players' future will last well beyond Old Trafford.
