Jose Mourinho 'isn't special anymore', says Harry Redknapp

'If Jose was such a genius, Chelsea wouldn’t be losing all these games'

Jose Mourinho has refused to accept responsibility for Chelsea’s struggles and has instead turned on his players (Getty Images)

Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp says Chelsea manager can no longer claim to be the Special One with his side enduring their worst run of form in decades.

The Blues are just a point above the relegation zone with 15 points from 16 matches so far this season.

The Chelsea board held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss Mourinho's future. No announcement has been made yet but Mourinho is under extreme pressure to stay in charge at Stamford Bridge.

In a column for the London Evening Standard, Redknapp writes that the Portuguese can have "no complaints" if he gets the sack because Chelsea have fallen so far from grace after winning the Premier League last season.

"Jose Mourinho isn’t special any more," writes Redknapp. "He can’t have any complaints if he is sacked because if he gets all the credit for winning the Premier League and hailed as the greatest manager there is when Chelsea win, then he has to face the consequences when they perform as badly as this.

"I like him but he is no different to anyone else: managers get the sack for failing to win football matches. Brendan Rodgers left Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp comes in and he is the best thing since sliced bread one minute, then the next they can’t beat West Brom and lose at Newcastle.

"If Jose was such a genius, Chelsea wouldn’t be losing all these games. What’s happened there is remarkable but it just goes to show that whoever they are, a manager is only as good as his players."

Redknapp says that the players should also take more of the blame than they are currently. Although Mourinho is ultimately responsible to motivate the players, they have not been good enough.

"What should really happen is the players get the sack for underperforming but that will never happen," he says. "But the players simply haven’t done the jobs they are paid huge sums to do. Diego Costa has not scored enough goals. Cesc Fabregas has not created enough chances. Eden Hazard has not dictated games often enough.

"Branislav Ivanovic was one of the best right-backs in the League and now, suddenly, he is way off the pace. What is Oscar doing these days? Sulking? This experience will be good for Mourinho in the long run. It will have brought him down to Earth. It might make him realise he doesn’t make the difference — the players do. He hasn’t got a magic wand — he can’t suddenly make them play well again. He has proved he can’t do it."

Howeverm Redknapp believes Mourinho will turn it around, if Chelsea stick with him and he gets rid of certain bad apples in the squad.

"His biggest task now is hanging in there and keeping his job, despite the bad eggs in the squad undermining him. If Chelsea stick with Jose, he needs to get the troublemakers out because the rest of them are unsettled. And if he survives this period, he will get them out, make no mistake. He isn’t a fool. He just isn’t as special as we all thought."