Top targets Pep Guardiola, Diego Simeone and Antonio Conte are not available until the summer, with Guardiola also being pursued by Manchester City. Less ambitious permanent options include Southampton manager Ronald Koeman and Sevilla’s Unai Emery.
That leaves Chelsea also looking at alternative options, like former manager Carlo Ancelotti, or an experienced caretaker appointment such as Guus Hiddink.
Dutchman Hiddink has already hinted he would be interested in replacing Mourinho until the end of the season in what would be a similar scenario to when the 69-year-old last took caretaker charge of Chelsea in February 2009 and finished the season as an FA Cup winner.
Abramovich has desperately attempted to stand by Mourinho and ride out the current storm, but there is growing concern that the 52-year-old will not be able to turn around the club’s dreadful run of results.

why conte?  and pep is out of our reach, i dont think he will ever come to chelsea. and GH

why conte?  and pep is out of our reach, i dont think he will ever come to chelsea. and GH

First thing I'd love to see is him following through with his declaration that players are at fault for this disaster. When he proceeded to give loftus cheek a start vs villa and kenedy at leftback (can't remember the opposition), I was jumping for joy,because I believed this is the way he's finally starting to do things differently.there were supposed to be bruised egos all around,with senior players chomping at the bit to get back into the team.

Unfortunately,that change never happened for more than the odd game or two,and jose will revert back to the very players who've lost their way. I think certain seniors have sniffed this out and are quietly confident jose is all bark and less 'bite' with his empty threats,hence they're not afraid of putting in successive pathetic performances. At the end of the day,the gaffer's too afraid to drop them for more than a match and his stubbornness isn't hard for all to see. Iva's instant return to the team when he got back from injury is a clear example of a player who's practically 'betrayed' jose from day one,yet would worry more about catching a cold rather than being dropped from the starting 11. Just look at his embarrassing attempt at a 50/50 challenge that lead to bournemouth's goal. If that's not betrayal of the highest order I don't know what is mate.

But the important question probably being murmured in hushed tones around the dressing room Is,"what makes these untouchables so special?"what gives players like Iva,cesc,matic,costa,hazard,etc, the divine right to start practically every game without others getting a look in when results have shown their not cutting it. This is quite possibly the biggest issue tearing at the heart of the squad,which all points to undeserved preferential treatment and certain players taking advantage of the whole situation. They just know jose will recall them for the 'big' games,and they practically have nothing to worry about.

The hardest question which is probably making the board sweat bullets is whether jose's capable of turning things around before season's end. If he's given that much time,will we end up relegated?right now that looks a real possibility because I sense some players have stopped responding to his methods for whatever reason.

Therefore the relegation 6 pointer (who knew we would actually be using that term ) game vs sunderland will be a do or die for us this weekend. Jose must follow through with his declaration that certain players have betrayed him,and drop them from the matchday squad altogether.

I agreed, Mou just don't have the guts to completely cut off those underperformed and give youngsters a chance to keep the momentum running. If the youngsters make mistake, so be it and learned from it. As it is now, youngsters are demotivated as they know once the senior back and off they go on the substitute or worst, not on the list. The worst is they knew, come Jan reinforce and they will down the pecking order as well.

Fire Mou now won't help either as new manager come in, all the seniors will performed suddenly cos "New Manager, New System and No Favourite Players" that can last 1 to 2 season only but hiring New Manager now already too late to charge to top 4. Roman must tell Mou, if top4 out of reached, use this next 22 games to groom young players and sold those underpreformed and keep the wages low. Start afresh next season with young, hungry and dangerous players fighting for honours.

why conte?  and pep is out of our reach, i dont think he will ever come to chelsea. and GH

Im still sticking with mourinho...if he got sacked, interim shud be GH n permanent shud be ancelotti...

Under ancelotti, we were free scoring team...4-0, 5-0, 8-0

if like that, just pick ancelotti. no need interim manager since he is jobless now. lol...

Carlo Ancelotti to replace Pep Guardiola in Bayern Munich, Guardiola to Manchester city

so we left with special-one and sime-one, or maybe hiddink

completly agree that some players shouldn't even be in the team until they prove that they worthy of the slot..i still believe that if the players stick to Jose's plan and tactics, we wont be in this mess..but on the other hand..it also partly Jose's fault when he kept on selecting those players.

some of senior players even if they didn't performed well..they might just following specific order by Mou, that is the hardest part with Mou..he has plan for everything..every little detail..if one department fail to deliver..the unit system will fail..

hopefully..something drastic change will happen against Sunderland..

at this point..top half is my expectation for the team..

maybe Jose kept on playing them because he want to maintain the price and offload them this january..well..we can only speculate..
I am still Jose, after that Carlo, then Hiddink..