COMMENT: If they REALLY want it, there is an 'out' on the table for Jose Mourinho and Roman Abramovich at Chelsea.
It comes from Alessandro Proto, the flamboyant Italian billionaire, who claims he's the inspiration behind the dodgy '50 shades of grey' phenomenon.
Proto is a minor shareholder in AS Monaco and released a statement on Sunday night declaring "first contact with Jose Mourinho" had been made 24 hours earlier - in other words almost immediately after the meltdown at West Ham. Proto sounded confident and a little ring around yesterday had sources in France confirming to tribalfootball.com that there is belief of a solution being drawn up by Proto that will satisfy all parties.
Sacking Mourinho will cost Chelsea over €50 million. The manager only signed a new deal in August, worth £10 million-a-year. If Abramovich wants rid, the compo bill will be a record in football. But Proto is prepared to put €20 million on the table to convince his fellow billionaire to release Mourinho to Monaco, where the Special One can expect parity - if not an increase - on his current salary.
At ASM, currently languishing in eighth place on the Ligue 1 table, Mourinho would also find a squad built almost solely by his agent and good friend, Jorge Mendes. It's a decent proposal by Proto, but while the pitchfork brigade are waiting to bring Mourinho down, we're hearing a parting of ways isn't as close as is being claimed.
Those with genuine, rock solid contacts inside Chelsea are insisting Mourinho still retains unanimous support among board members - including Abramovich. And just as important, he can also count on the backing of Marina Granovskaia, the club's prime deal maker.
The pundits insist Abramovich is a proud man and will not tolerate the embarrassment the club is currently experiencing. Mourinho will surely have to go...
But if you want to talk about embarrassment or mockery, just imagine the reaction if Mourinho was to be sacked. This just weeks after Abramovich - for the first time during his Chelsea tenure - had publicly backed the manager, insisting his job was safe. The decision to go public wasn't something off the cuff. For Chelsea, in the Abramovich era, it was historic. It's difficult to see him going back on his word after such a ground-breaking gesture.
However, there is still the old 'mutual consent' card to play. And if by Sunday Chelsea are out of the Capital One Cup and have handed Jurgen Klopp his first win as Liverpool manager, even Mourinho's most steadfast supporters inside the boardroom may agree it is time to look elsewhere.
The players will play (and fight) for the manager this week. The claims of frustration and dissent have come from outside the locker room, not from within. During the international breaks, we've been waiting for someone to go against the tide. One foreigner, any foreigner, to offer even a hint in a local newspaper that things aren't so rosy between the manager and squad. But there's been nothing.
There was a great point made on talkSPORT on Sunday about Mourinho's loyalty to his players.
Perhaps he's too loyal. Just consider the case of Branislav Ivanovic. Hopelessly out of form this season. The Blues support were desperate for him to be withdrawn from the front line. But Mourinho, convinced the Serb could turn things around, persisted with him. We even had some from the ex-players' brigade blaming the manager for humiliating Ivanovic. Like he was playing him just to embarrass him! Absolute idiocy.
The general opinion is Mourinho never lasts at one club for longer than three years. He simply flames out, burning all bridges along the way. But could it be more about his loyalty to those he's gone into battle with and a reluctance to accept the partnership is over?
In contrast to his mentor, Sir Alex Ferguson, Mourinho sticks with those he won with. You think of Fergie and some of the players he bombed out over the years: Mark Hughes, David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Roy Keane... he never thought twice about cutting someone loose if he thought they were dragging their feet or becoming disruptive. The story goes Fergie made up his mind to sell Van Nistelrooy after one instant where the Dutchman failed to run down a lost cause. That was it for the Manchester United manager, Van Nistelrooy had to go. We've never seen this from Mourinho. Even with Frank Lampard last year, he was simply allowed to run down his contract and move on.
And this opportunity could be embraced by Mourinho as the last frontier. Among all the trophies won, all the success achieved, he's never regenerated a team. Not once over his career. Mourinho has never given himself the chance to really match Fergie and win with one team, before rebuilding and winning with another.
This is what lies ahead of the Special One now. Does he have the bottle to do something different? And this week, can the players give him that chance?
INJURY TIME
If Jose Mourinho really is the short-term flame thrower his critics claim, then what does that say about Chelsea?
Apparently, Mourinho has a shelf life of three years - and no more. Which is actually pretty good given the record Chelsea has with their managers. No-one has lasted longer than Mourinho in the Abramovich era.
And you have to go back to the mid-1980s to find someone who lasted a fourth season - the late John Neal. John's feat was so rare, he eventually joined the Blues board.
The Durham born and raised Neal took Chelsea up as Second Division champions in 1984 and with Ken Bates' backing built a team which included Kerry Dixon, Pat Nevin, David Speedie and... John Bumstead. He also broke ground by fielding Paul Canoville, the first black player to appear in the Blues first team.
Neal would be in charge of Chelsea for four years before retiring and taking a seat on Bates' board.
Mourinho, after that defeat to Southampton, talked about Chelsea facing a watershed moment in the treatment of their managers. And you have to say, this record goes well beyond Abramovich's time in charge.
PENALTY KICKS
For those Blues fans around the world unaware of John Neil's legacy, its well worth reading Paul Canoville's tribute to his old boss after his passing last year.
You can read Paul's thoughts by clicking here.
