After Jose Mourinho's dramatic departure last night, a source close to Abramovich told The Sun: "Roman was already furious with the way things had been going.

"It seemed everything he asked for from the team in the way they played turned out the opposite.

"Roman is tired of saying one thing and seeing another. This is where it cracked."

A crisis meeting yesterday was held by Abramovich with Director of Football Avram Grant and trusted director Eugene Tenenbaum.

That was followed by a lengthy meeting between Chelsea's three main powerbrokers - Tenenbaum, chairman Bruce Buck and chief executive Peter Kenyon.

A Blues source confirmed: "Roman is seriously p****d off. He's beginning to think the club is becoming a laughing stock, which is the exact opposite of everything he wants to achieve."