Jose: He'll be hugely missed
Reaction to the dramatic exit of Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has been full of praise for the impact he has had at Stamford Bridge and indeed on all of English football.
A spokesperson for PM Gordon Brown: "The Prime Minister is a football fan and somebody who enjoys watching Premier League games, so he knows Mourinho has a fantastic record of success.
"He's made a significant contribution to British football in a short period of time and he's also one of the great characters of the game."
Former Chelsea skipper Ray 'Butch' Wilkins: "I'm absolutely astounded at what's happened. Winning football matches is what the game's about and he is a winning manager who puts a winning mentality in players' heads and they go and win things."
Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin: "The man is a superb coach. He'll be hugely missed and took Chelsea to a level they could have dreamed of a few years ago. He will be hugely missed."
Former England boss Graham Taylor: "Once you take away the authority the manager has in signing players, you're on a slippery slope.
"What I would say about Mourinho is his record is with underachieving players and when Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack came in, it disturbed the balance.
"They've never looked as fluid and that's because the manager probably did not himself believe that is the way they should be playing."
Former Chelsea forward Gavin Peacock: "I think that half the team will have been affected badly and it's going to be hard to get that team spirit that Jose managed to manufacture."
And finally...Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon, September 18, 2007: "There's loads of speculation that if we don't win Jose gets fired, but that's not the way we think."
20th September 2007
