Former Chief Executive Officer of Chelsea FC, Peter Kenyon, has shared how the arrival of a former Black Stars head coach forced out Jose Mourinho.
Avram Grant was brought into the club by personal friend and then owner Roman Abramovich as Director of Football, causing a massive disruption in the technical department.
Peter Kenyon recounted how it had always been between himself, Jose Mourinho, and Roman Abramovich.
“Jose used to describe us as a ‘Holy Trinity’, Roman, him, and myself, and we sat down, we discussed things, and we got it done… Each one of us knew our place.”
“You introduce a third party, and that changes the dynamic. And that exacerbated this distance that had started between Roman and him, and the outcome – because of what he is – just made it more and more uncomfortable for everybody,” Kenyon said.
The Portuguese gaffer was appointed following his glowing success at Porto FC in 2003, conquering Europe, and granting himself the name ‘Special One’.
Mourinho won numerous trophies in his first stint at the club, including back-to-back Premier League titles with the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele, and Didier Drogba leading the team.
“I don’t think I’ve seen as many football stars go ashen all at the same time. They were dumbstruck. There were two people in tears, people you wouldn’t think were capable of crying. There was a general feeling like we’d popped a balloon,” Kenyon, explaining the players’ reaction to news of Mourinho’s exit.
Kenyon further asserted he believed the club reaching the Champions League final in 2007 is as the result of the players’ ambition and not the doing of Avram Grant:
“It disrupted us for a period. It didn’t stop us because the team kept going. We got to the Champions League final and that was about the team, not Avram. I don’t want to be disrespectful, but I’m being honest. I’m really confident that had Jose been there, we’d have won the Champions League final in 2008.”
The Israeli coach was sacked the following season and went on to manage Portsmouth, West Ham United, Partizan Belgrade, and national teams, including Ghana and Zambia.
