Jose Mourinho sacked: Player power forced former Real Madrid manager out of Chelsea says Clive Walker

Former Chelsea star Clive Walker has claimed that "player power" forced Jose Mourinho out of Stamford Bridge just months after helping them win the title last season. The Blues suffered a 2-1 defeat to Leicester City and it was their ninth league loss of the 2015/16 campaign.

The Portuguese tactician publicly criticised his players following his side's defeat to the Foxes on 14 December. He was sacked on Thursday by club owner Roman Abramovich.

Walker, who was at Chelsea from 1976-84 believes Mourinho slamming his players following the defeat against Leicester City was the final straw. The former Blues winger also suggested that the comments made by the former Real Madrid manager might not have gone well with several senior players in the squad.

"I suspect that he might have lost the players after Monday. He had tried everything – leaving players out, changing training methods, changing the style and tactics," Walker told Goal.com.

"The last [move] was to criticise the players and he would have known that was a big gamble on Monday. He would have hoped they would knuckle down after that, but it might have gone the other way.

"There are some big personalities in that changing room and a few of them might not have liked his remarks after the defeat at Leicester and voiced their complaints to the hierarchy.

"That might have been a defining moment and for Jose the final straw. Chelsea have been the exception to the rule that a successful club has a settled manager. That is because Roman Abramovich puts his managers under constant pressure," he stressed.

The west London club are 16<sup>th in the league with 15 points after 16 matches. They have been knocked out of the Capital One Cup, with only the Champions League and the FA Cup being realistic options for the team to win titles.