In the end the news hardly came as a surprise. After all, sacking the manager is what jittery clubs do when they find themselves teetering on the brink of the relegation zone as the mid-winter transfer window, with all its promise of a revamp, looms large.

That is what Chelsea’s champions have become. They languish a point above the cut-off after nine Premier League defeats, and with only Swansea City and Aston Villa saddled by worse form over the past six games. There is discord, there is dissatisfaction, and now no faith José Mourinho can arrest the slump.

The sense of shock stems from the memory of this team winning the title by eight points seven months ago, though in the context of Chelsea’s recent history, even that provided no real job security. Roberto Di Matteo won the European Cup in 2012 and, having been given a long-term deal that summer, still found himself discarded before autumn was properly out.

There were 186 days between that triumph in Munich and the Italian’s shuffle across the arrivals hall at Gatwick. Mourinho has survived 227 days since his team secured the Premier League trophy in May. As astonishing as it would have seemed then, he could not have been too surprised to hear that Eugene Tenenbaum and Bruce Buck needed a brief word yesterday.

Vociferously

What makes the scenario different is this is Mourinho: a three-times title winner at this club; a two-times European Cup winner; a figure whose name will still be chorused vociferously by the team’s support when Sunderland visit Stamford Bridge tomorrow.

The risk of mutiny in the stands is clear and the most successful manager in Chelsea's history must have been hoping his reputation counted for something. It probably did given he has already been granted far more time by Roman Abramovich than anyone else would have had to turn this team's season around.

What forced the owner’s hand was the lack of evidence that an upturn in results is close. The team have lost five of their eight matches since that unprecedented vote of confidence after the home defeat to Southampton in early October.

Throughout it all, Mourinho has failed to disguise his bewilderment. His ill-judged and inexcusable attack on the medical staff after an opening day draw with Swansea offered the first indication that he was losing control. The outbursts, and regular railing against officialdom, which provoked regular Football Association sanctions in the months that followed, merely strengthened that impression.

The frustration was in his inability to remind his players of their capabilities and rouse them into mounting a coherent title defence. None of them, with the exception of Willian, has justified his lofty reputation this season. When Eden Hazard has appeared more his old self, Cesc Fàbregas has shrunk into mediocrity. When Nemanja Matic has reimposed himself, Branislav Ivanovic has wilted. John Terry is not the power he once was and Diego Costa, once a potent goalscorer and now merely an overly aggressive runner of channels, can appear more trouble than he is worth.

A group who once seemed worthy successors to Frank Lampard, Petr Cech, Terry, Didier Drogba et al have been exposed as pretenders. Mourinho suggested as much post-match at Leicester on Monday, wondering out loud whether last season’s success had actually been the blip rather than this term’s sloppiness. His use of the word “betrayed” to describe his feelings was powerful but, whether any in the squad had lost faith or not, the fact was too many were simply not listening to his instructions.

Perhaps they had become desensitised to his intense training methods and the constant demands but surely the least every manager expects is for his players to work feverishly given the salaries and exposure they attract.

In truth, these players are simply unaccustomed to raising themselves from a slump this prolonged. They do not look like a squad suited to a relegation scrap. And, tellingly, the man in charge was just as perplexed to find his team fretting near the foot.

Kicking their heels

Few managers can match Mourinho’s trophy haul, but he has spent almost his entire career at the top end of the league table. That he still persisted with the same tactics and personnel reflected how unconvinced he was about the youngsters kicking their heels in the wings. Regardless, the tried and tested simply failed.

To that end the interim who comes in faces a far harder task than Guus Hiddink in 2009 or Di Matteo and Rafael Benítez in 2012. At least they inherited a side on the fringe of the title race.

But what of Chelsea’s attitude? A campaign of unremitting toil, the like of which they have not endured since the late 1970s, has put paid to all that talk of a long-term strategy: of forging a dynasty to dominate for the next decade. They are back in that unnerving cycle of interims, interviews and hefty compensation packages .

Maybe Diego Simeone can be the long-term answer, if he can be prised away from Atlético Madrid. Possibly Pep Guardiola’s switch to Manchester City, apparently a fait accompli, can still be deflected.

The last four months have demonstrated that, regardless of who is in charge, these players may not be the answer. Whoever is recruited, once the interim has warded off relegation, must have the leeway to reshape the squad.

Abramovich knows the drill well enough, from André Villas-Boas to Avram Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari to Carlo Ancelotti. Even so, he must be livid to find himself back at square one. Guardian Service