The future of Chelsea FC of England Coach Jose Mourinho in the team, has pitched the clubs fans in Ebonyi along opposing lines.

There has been a continuing debate over his retention in the club by the fans of the club in the social media.

The fans in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abakaliki were reacting to the club’s shock 1-3 loss at home to Southampton on Saturday.

The loss was the club’s 4th in eight games in the 2015/ 2016 soccer season, making it its worst start to a league campaign since 1978, according information by the club fans.

Smart Ike, former Chairman of Chelsea Fans Club in Abakaliki, called on the team’s owner, Roman Abrahmovic to immediately sack the coach to save the club from a further slide this season.

“The club’s last two matches against Porto and Southampton for instance, showed that the Portuguese tactician has lost ideas on how to move the team forward.

“In the Champions League loss to Porto, he kept the club’s key players such as Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic on the bench and introduced them when the damage was already done.

“In Saturday’s league loss against Southampton, he substituted Matic after 20 minutes of introducing him in the match while leaving Banislav Ivanovic, not considered good enough, on the pitch.”

Ike’s contemporary in Afikpo area of the state, Basil Otuu, said immediate sack of the coach would usher in the needed, ‘fresh breadth’ into the team.

“Chelsea is not the only club experiencing result crisis in the Premier League but its case is made prominent because of Mourinho’s ever-controversial nature.

“In the match against Arsenal, it was clear that Diego Costa cheated in the expulsion of an Aresnal player but Mourinho due to those antics, hailed him as the team’s man of the match.

“In a post-match news conference after the Southampton’s defeat, he openly berated the referee for denying his team a penalty and even challenged the English Football Association to punish him over the outburst if they so wished.”

Jude Omorodion of the Defunct Obanta United of Ijebu Ode, however noted that Mourinho should not be sacked as Chelsea’s crisis was not his fault.

“The club’s authorities failed to sign on quality players, which is the team’s hallmark, before the commencement of the season as the coach has been making do the players available to him.

“The signed on players, such as Falcao, Bergovic among others were flops in their previous clubs, as this is the first time since Abrahomovic’s reign that the club is signing ‘unheralded players’ from smaller clubs.”

Ositadimma Eke, a Medical Doctor blamed the players for failing the club when expected to raise their games to acceptable levels.

“The worst issue in the Chelsea’s debacle is that the players, ‘lost form at the same time’ as all of them play as if they are ‘kindergartens.’

“The game against Southampton was Chelsea’s worst that I ever watched, as the team played as if they were being manipulated by unseen evil force,” he said.

Oluchi Nwite, a Student, however, counselled the club’s fans across the globe to support the coach and the players, to rediscover their ‘once intimidating’ form.

“Teams across the globe no matter how fantastic, experience such situations, as fans seem to have forgotten in a hurry, Manchester United’s debacle some seasons ago.” (NAN)

•Photo shows Jose Mourinho.

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