Chelsea exit door looming for Jose Mourinho after losing to Bournemouth

Chelsea 0 Bournemouth 1

Chelsea players held a late-night Christmas party and ended up beaten by Bournemouth just a couple of days later; never mind Yuletide, this is the season that hasn’t stopped giving since the day it began.

Leicester City three points clear at the top, Stoke City boasting more Champions League winners than Manchester City and playing like it, and Jose Mourinho still has no idea whatsoever how to stop last year’s champions from stumbling into one humiliation after another: what’s not to like?

Not since 1938 has an English champion side managed to get itself relegated — City, in case you were wondering — yet we are almost halfway through this one and Chelsea sit just three points above the drop zone.

Jose admitted he had re-calibrated his target for the season: from Champions League qualification to scraping into the Europa League.

It’s the closest we’ll probably get to humility from this guy, who yet again squealed about refereeing decisions going against his side.

True, Mourinho’s players weren’t exactly stumbling out of the London nightclub they had chosen for their festive gathering. Not the three snapped by paparazzi at 3.15am, anyway.

One was Diego Costa, who remained on the bench until the second half and, to be fair, improved Chelsea significantly when he came on. But not enough to prevent an eighth defeat in 15 Premier League games, by opponents who weren’t even on Chelsea’s radar until a few weeks ago.

Chelsea had enough chances to make irrelevant Bournemouth’s 82nd-minute winner, nodded home from an offside position by substitute Glenn Murray with his first touch, but converted none.

Nemanja Matic headed their best opportunity over during a second-half spell of dominance that was punctured by Murray but Bournemouth had also conjured up plenty of decent chances before that, and Chelsea were grateful that Thibaut Courtois, back in goal after a three-month absence, was able to carry on where he had left off.

“I’m not sure, I’m just one of the players,” said Matic, when quizzed afterwards on the cause of Chelsea’s decline. If only he had passed the ball on the pitch as well as he passed the buck off it. “I don’t think we played badly; we controlled the game. We didn’t score; they were lucky and scored one goal. What is the problem? I’m not sure. But we have to improve in some aspects. We have to try and work hard and see where is our problem is.”

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There was an odd interlude during Mourinho’s post-match media duties when an overseas journalist inquired whether there was anything the media could do to help him. Jose reacted with a mixture of incredulity and revulsion but his curt reply of “I don’t think so” was polite.

There’s no-one quite as pleasant though as Eddie Howe, the clean-cut chap currently adding chapters to the Bournemouth fairytale, though not quite as many as he had been hoping for.

The Cherries are out of the bottom three but the feeling of elation he and his players felt at Stamford Bridge was more of an echo of last term’s glory.

“We have had some sombre times this season,” he said. “It has not been a bundle of laughs in the dressing room after games, and the players had been used to winning. That’s why these moments are so special, you share them together.”

Bournemouth is a town built for parties, so will Howe and Co be celebrating on the seaside? Howe was clear he wouldn’t be too chuffed if his players suddenly get festive.

“It’s is a small place so if they plan something, I will certainly be aware of it,” he said.

“There’s nothing official planned. We certainly don’t want any distractions to what we are trying to do. We know the importance of this spell of games and hope the players do. It’s a debate every season — Christmas parties: do they, don’t they (go ahead)? It has to be what’s right for the club.”

A bit like Manchester United then, Bournemouth’s next opponents. Chelsea take on leaders Leicester in their next Premier League fixture and Claudio Ranieri, the man Roman Abramovich shoved aside for Mourinho in his first spell at Chelsea.

But before that, there is the visit of Porto on Wednesday night, when qualification for the knockout stage of the Champions League is at stake.

And who will be in goal for the Portuguese? Iker Casillas, Mourinho’s biggest enemy from his bridge-burning stint at Real Madrid. What could possibly go wrong?

CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Courtois 8; Ivanovic 7, Zouma 6, Cahill 7, Baba 5 (Traore 82); Fabregas 5 (Remy 82), Matic 5; Willian 6, Oscar 4 (Costa 46, 7), Pedro 5; Hazard 6.

BOURNEMOUTH (4-5-1): Boruc 8; Smith 7, Francis 7, Cook 8, Daniels 7; Surman 6, Ritchie 7, Gosling 7, Arter 7, Stanislas 8; King 8 (Murray 79).

Referee: Michael Jones 7.