Former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich gathered Blues fans for a drink to explain why Jose Mourinho was fired.
After the Portuguese manager was fired in 2007, the Russian oligarch organized an impromptu fans’ conference in Spain, according to The Sun.
A reporter stumbled across Abramovich with his then-girlfriend Dasha Zhukova and right-hand man Eugene Tenenbaum in a hotel bar in Valencia, where the Blues had recently won a Champions League group stage match against Los Che 2-1.
The trio was standing with a group of roughly seven or eight Blues fans, all of whom were drinking booze.
According to the report, Abramovich told the group: “I love Jose and will always love him because of what he did for Chelsea – but nobody is bigger than the club.
“I understand that you are upset he has gone but things had not been right for some while and the time was right for a change. I want you to trust me that Avram is the right man and he is a permanent appointment.
“There will be more additions to the coaching squad but Avram is here to stay. You could see tonight against Valencia we still have a great spirit in our team.”
The group – the fans, Abramovich and his entourage – held forth until about 1:30am, when the bar stopped serving drinks.
Grant led the club to their first Champions League final, which they lost on penalties to Manchester United. True to the Russian’s word, Mourinho was re-hired as manager in 2013.
