Kenyon reveals how Jose Mourinho unravelled at Stamford Bridge

Inside Jose Mourinho’s first Chelsea exit: £30m Andriy Shevchenko deal led to ‘tension’ with Roman Abramovich, annoyed by Avram Grant’s influence and Petr Cech’s despair in the dressing room

• Peter Kenyon has explained how Jose Mourinho began to unravel at Chelsea
• The arrivals of Andriy Shevchenko and Avram Grant played a role in his downfall
• Lampard says their arrival caused issues between Abramovich and Mourinho

Former Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon has revealed how Jose Mourinho’s time in west London ‘unravelled’ in 2007. 

The relationship between Mourinho and the Blues had broken down early on in the 2007-08 season, with the Portuguese boss leaving Stamford Bridge for the first time after a 1-1 draw against Rosenborg in the Champions League and allowed the manager to leave Stamford Bridge for the first time. 

Kenyon revealed how things at the club began to unravel for Mourinho following the arrival of Andriy Shevchenko and Avram Grant.  

Speaking on Paramount+ documentary Fever Pitch, Kenyon said: ‘The feeling in the club was that it was unravelling a bit. It was unravelling because Jose was unravelling a bit.’

Peter Kenyon has revealed how Jose Mourinho told him he wanted out of his role as the Chelsea manager at a film premiere in 2007

While, Kenyon reveale d how things at the club began to unravel for Mourinho following the arrival of Andriy Shevchenko and Avram Grant

Mourinho grew frustrated with Grant as he felt as though the director was keep tabs on him during games as he was allowed to sit on the bench alongside the Chelsea manager

Mourinho grew frustrated with Grant as he felt as though the director was keeping tabs on him. He also felt Grant’s presence on the bench during games was unnecessary. 

When discussing Grant, Kenyon said: ‘I think people saw that [Grant sitting in the dugout] as undermining the manager but it was never that. It didn’t take power away from the coach. But I don’t think Jose felt it was needed.’ 

Meanwhile, Grant said: ‘I saw that things became very nervous and that Jose became very nervous. I think for the first time in his life things didn’t go like he wanted them to go.’

However, Grant’s arrival was not the sole reason for Mourinho’s downfall at the Premier League giants. Many felt Shevchenko’s arrival played a part in his departure. 

Shevchenko endured a difficult time a Stamford Bridge and struggled to impress Mourinho after arriving from AC Milan in a £30.8m transfer in 2006. 

The Portuguese manager admitted further down the line that Shevchenko was not his first choice signing and that he had asked the club to sign ‘another player’.

Frank Lampard has said that Shevchenko’s arrival at Chelsea in 2006 caused friction between Roman Abramovich and Mourinho

Frank Lampard said Shevchenko’s arrival caused tension between the manager and the owner, with many people questioning whose signing he was.

Lampard said: ‘It’s the first time I remember feeling like there was tension between the owner and the manager. There was a lot of talk around whose signing is it.’ 

Lampard went on to speak about how Shevchenko struggled to settle at Chelsea. He said: ‘There were a few injuries within the team and you could feel this displeasure at the bad results for Jose. Andre needed time to settle and went he didn’t quite settle the noises became louder.’

Meanwhile, Peter Kenyon said: ‘There was this story that Shevchenko was not a player that Jose wanted. This is rubbish.’

Mourinho and Abramovich were eager to sign a new striker in 2006 to play alongside their star-man, Didier Drogba. They were also pushing for the Champions League title after winning two Premier League titles in a row.

Mourinho put together a list of potential targets for the summer transfer window. However, Abramovich decided to take control and sign an alternative option. 

Abramovich felt Shevchenko was the right choice for the club as he was regarded as one of the best strikers in the world at the time. He had scored scored 173 goals for AC Milan and won the Ballon d’Or in 2004. 

Shevchenko endured a difficult time a Stamford Bridge and struggled to impress Mourinho after arriving from AC Milan in a £30.8m transfer in 2006

However, Shevchenko struggled in the Premier League. He found himself being dispossessed regularly – much to Mourinho’s frustrations. Therefore, the Portuguese manager started to leave him out of his match-day squads. 

Mourinho later admitted: ‘At Chelsea, he was not my first choice. I had asked for another player, and I know at the time the club were doing everything to get me the players I wanted, or at least one of them, but it wasn’t possible for various reasons.

‘And when I was offered Shevchenko, I said yes because he is undoubtedly a player of quality. He was like a prince in Milan and at Chelsea our philosophy was different, we had no princes.’

Speaking on Paramount+’s new docu-series, Mourinho said: ‘What the team needed is not what I got. When a coach is not happy, not comfortable then the job is more difficult.’

Nevertheless, Shevchenko did scored 14 goals and register 12 assists in 2006-2007 campaign. He also found the back of the net in Chelsea’s Champions League clashes against Porto and Valencia. 

Mourinho eventually left Chelsea in 2007 and said he decided to part ways with the Premier League giants after ‘losing’ his ‘happiness’ at the club. 

Speaking on the douc-series, Mourinho said: ‘I was losing happiness and other people were growing in influence. I could feel it.’ 

Many questioned whether it was Mourinho who wanted to sign Shevchenko or Abramovich

Mourinho put together a list of potential targets for the summer transfer window. However, Abramovich decided to go against the Portuguese manager and sign Shevchenko

While Kenyon recalled how Mourinho pulled him aside and asked for a way out. The 66-year-old said: ‘We were going to the screening of the Chelsea movie. 

‘We were all at the health club beforehand and Jose called me to one side and basically said, Pete get me out of here. That was Jose saying I had had enough. He had absolutely decided that it had come to the end of the road for him.’

Kenyon went on to speak about how the players reacted. He said: ‘We brought all the players in that morning. They all ambled in as they thought it was another training session but I stood up and told them that Jose had gone. I looked around and there was complete shock. I mean Cech had his head in his hands.’

Frank Lampard said he found Mourinho’s departure particularly hard. He said: ‘I found it a really tough time and a really tough thing to take. We had won Premier League titles and we had won the FA Cup previously. We were in a tough moment early in the season and I was more than surprised that Jose lost his job. ‘

The Premier League’s coming-of-age story, is available exclusively on Paramount+ from May 7. 

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