Sir Bobby Taught The 'Special One' Everything He Knows!

Mourinho is understood to have contacted five senior players on Wednesday afternoon to inform them of his departure and by midnight the entire first team squad were aware he was going.

A statement on the Chelsea website confirmed: "Chelsea Football Club and Jose Mourinho have agreed to part company today (Thursday) by mutual consent."

He still had three years left on a contract worth a staggering £6.5million a year.

At the time he signed that deal, Mourinho said: "My heart is with Chelsea and the fantastic group of players that I have but the vision of the owner and the board for the future of Chelsea is also one I want to be a part of.

"I cannot imagine another situation or another club where I could be happier. I am totally behind this project."

The Blues are currently fifth in the Premier League, two points behind leaders Arsenal after six games. On Tuesday only 25,000 fans turned up for the Champions League match with Rosenborg and the team was booed off.

1963: Born on January 26. Father Felix Mourinho was a former Portugal goalkeeper.

1992: Takes first high-profile role in football when being appointed to work under Bobby Robson at Sporting Lisbon after middle-ranking jobs at Estrela Amadora and Vitoria Setubal. Begins as Robson's translator before becoming involved in team affairs.

1993: Moves on with Robson when the veteran coach goes to Porto. In three years at Porto, the team win two league titles.

1996: Joins Barcelona in the summer of 1996 as assistant coach to Robson.

1997: Stays on at the Nou Camp after Robson departs, taking up a role under new coach Louis van Gaal.

2000: Takes his first head coaching job at Benfica but lasts just nine games before resigning due to problems in the boardroom.

2001: Appointed coach of Uniao de Leiria and guides the club into the top five of the Portuguese league midway through the 2001-02 season.

2002: Joins Porto in January and the club overcome their poor start to the league season to finish third. In Mourinho's first full season in charge, Porto win the treble of domestic league and cup, and UEFA Cup.

2004: Having already successfully defended their Portuguese league title, Porto win the Champions League title in Monaco on May 26 with a 3-0 victory over Monaco.

June 2 - Appointed manager of Chelsea.

2005: January 28 - Mourinho charged with improper conduct by the Football Association after comments made after the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester United.

January 30 - A Sunday newspaper reports Mourinho, chief executive Peter Kenyon and Ashley Cole had a meeting in the Royal Park Hotel at Lancaster Gate - allegations constituting an illegal approach. Less than a week later the Premier League launch an inquiry.

February 23 - Following a 2-1 defeat at Barcelona - in which Didier Drogba was sent off - in the first leg of the Champions League first knock-out round, Mourinho claims Barca manager Frank Rijkaard went into referee Anders Frisk's dressing room at half-time. UEFA's official observers said they witnessed nothing untoward.

February 27 - Chelsea win their first trophy under Mourinho, the Carling Cup, with 3-2 win over Liverpool. Mourinho is involved in more controversy, having wandered along the touchline in front of the Liverpool fans putting his fingers to his lips. Mourinho is later "reminded of his responsibilities" by the FA.

March 8 - Chelsea beat Barcelona 4-2 at Stamford Bridge to reach Champions League quarter-finals.

March 10 - Mourinho fined £5,000 for comments after Carling Cup semi-final match against Manchester United.

March 21 - UEFA charge Mourinho, assistant boss Steve Clarke and security official Les Miles with making "wrong and unfounded" statements about the allegedmeeting between Frisk and Rijkaard.

March 23 - FA charge Mourinho, Chelsea and Ashley Cole in relation to alleged 'tapping-up' hotel meeting.

March 31 - Handed two-match touchline ban and 20,000 Swiss francs (around £9,000) fine by UEFA's control and disciplinary body. Club fined 75,000 Swiss francs (£33,000).

April 30 - Chelsea seal Barclays Premiership title with 2-0 win at Bolton, prompting Mourinho to say he was keen to sit down and discuss extending his stay at Stamford Bridge.

May 4 - Jose Mourinho agrees terms on a new five-year contract.

June 1 - Found to be in breach of Premier League Rule Q, governing managers' conduct in relation to Chelsea's illegal approach to Arsenal full-back Cole. Fined £200,000 by the Premier League, later reduced to £75,000 on appeal.

2006: April 29 - Chelsea beat rivals Manchester United 3-0 to win their second consecutive Premiership title and Mourinho's fourth domestic title in a row.

2007: January 10 - Mourinho rejects claims that he has faced dressing-room unrest with summer signing Michael Ballack's contribution to the team.

January 11 - Rumours Mourinho could leave Chelsea in the summer surface after he accused the Stamford Bridge board of refusing to back him in the January transfer window.

February 27 - Wins a second Carling Cup, beating Arsenal 2-1 at the Millennium Stadium.

April 15 - Secures an FA Cup final meeting with Manchester United with a 2-1 extra-time win over Blackburn. Shares a hug with Abramovich, raising suggestions of a warming in relations between the pair.

May - Loses Champions League semi-final to Rafael Benitez's Liverpool on penalties and sees United wrest the Barclays Premier League crown from Stamford Bridge. Gains some revenge with an extra-time win over United in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

During the close season only Florent Malouda and Juliano Belletti arrive in cash deals, with Arjen Robben, Glen Johnson and Lassana Diarra departing to balance the books as the lavish spending of previous seasons remained a thing of the past.

July 12 - Warned newly-appointed director of football Avram Grant not to interfere with team affairs.

August 12 - Chelsea set a new record of 64 unbeaten home matches in the English top flight with a win over Birmingham.

September 2 - After a good start to the season Chelsea lose 2-0 at Aston Villa, prompting Abramovich to leave the directors box before the final whistle.

September 18 - The Blues follow up an uninspiring home draw with Blackburn with a lacklustre 1-1 stalemate with Rosenborg in the Champions League. Only 24,973 supporters attend the match and boos ring out at the final whistle. Mourinho admitted: "Of course I am alarmed. I am not happy."

September 19 - Leaves Chelsea by "mutual consent", according to a club statement.

THINGS HE SAID (From Sky TV)

"Please don't call me arrogant, but I'm European champion and I think I'm a special one" - Mourinho introduces himself to the English press after arriving from Porto in summer 2004.

"In the second half it was whistle and whistle, fault and fault, cheat and cheat. The referee controlled the game in one way during the first half but in the second they had dozens of free-kicks. I know the referee did not walk to the dressing rooms alone at half-time" - Mourinho claims Sir Alex Ferguson had influenced referee Neale Barry during a Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester United in January 2005. He was fined £5,000 by the Football Association.

"I don't regret it. The only thing I have to understand is I'm in England, so maybe even when I think I am not wrong, I have to adapt to your country and I have to respect that. I have a lot of respect for Liverpool fans and what I did, the sign of silence - 'shut your mouth' - was not for them, it was for the English press" - Mourinho defends putting a finger to his lips during the 2005 Carling Cup final against Liverpool, an action which resulted in him being sent to the stands.

"When I saw Rijkaard entering the referee's dressing room I couldn't believe it. When Drogba was sent off I didn't get surprised. There is something that tells me that in London the referee will be Collina, the best in the world. A perfect referee with personality and quality" - Mourinho claims in Portuguese newspaper Dez Record that Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard visited referee Anders Frisk's dressing room at half-time in the first leg of the teams' Champions League last-16 clash in February 2005. Mourinho was banned from the dug-out for two matches and fined £9,000 by UEFA.

"I felt the power of Anfield, it was magnificent. I felt it didn't interfere with my players but maybe it interfered with other people and maybe it interfered with the result. You should ask the linesman why he gave a goal. Because, to give a goal, the ball must be 100% in and he must be 100% sure that the ball is in" - Mourinho questions Luis Garcia' s goal which puts Chelsea out of the Champions League semi-finals in 2004.

"It is not a red card, of course not, and for the second time we have to play 55, 60 minutes without a man and the game is completely different. I shouldn't speak about the game, because the game is not a game" - Mourinho blames a first-leg defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League last 16 in February 2006 on the sending-off of Asier del Horno.

"We have played against them four matches in two seasons. (When it was) 11 against 11 they never beat us. That is the reality" - After 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou in 2006 which sent Barca through to the quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate.

"The goalkeeper has the ball in his hands, slides and the number 10 cannot get the ball. He goes with the knee into his face" - Mourinho accuses Reading midfielder Stephen Hunt of deliberately injuring Petr Cech after the pair collide in October's match at the Madejski Stadium.

"It is not possible (for) penalties (to be awarded) against Manchester United, and it is not possible (to get) penalties in favour of Chelsea. If somebody punishes me because I tell the truth, it is the end of democracy, we go back to the old times" - The Chelsea boss fumed last weekend after seeing his side's penalty appeals against Newcastle turned down, a day after United were given the benefit of the doubt over a strong injury-time penalty claim by Middlesbrough in their clash at Old Trafford.

"It is omelettes and eggs. No eggs - no omelettes! It depends on the quality of the eggs. In the supermarket you have class one, two or class three eggs and some are more expensive than others and some give you better omelettes. So when the class one eggs are in Waitrose and you cannot go there, you have a problem" - Shorn of the likes of injury victims Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Ricardo Carvalho and Didier Drogba, Mourinho cooked up a surreal analogy ahead of Tuesday's fateful draw with Rosenborg.