Chelsea have sacked manager Avram Grant after just eight months in charge at Stamford Bridge.
Grant’s position at Chelsea has been the subject of almost constant speculation since he replaced Jose Mourinho last September.
Grant’s last game in charge of Chelsea was the Champions League final penalty shoot-out defeat to Manchester United on Wednesday. That defeat came ten days after the club finished runners-up to United in the Premier League.
A statement on the club’s official website read: “Chelsea football club can confirm that Avram Grant has had his contract terminated today (Saturday 24th May). This follows meetings over the last two days.
“Everybody at Chelsea FC would like to thank Avram for his contribution since taking over as manager last September.
“We will now be concentrating all our efforts on identifying a new manager for Chelsea and there will be no further comment until that appointment is made.”
Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck claimed that the club’s performance this season was simply “not good enough”.
Buck said: “We have very high expectations at Chelsea and a couple of second place finishes is just not good enough for us.
“So although we never would have thought in September when Jose Mourinho left that we would be able to make it into a Champions League final as we did – and that is fantastic – Chelsea are here to win trophies.
“So although it was an excellent season, we are still disappointed.”
The search for a successor will begin immediately with the likes of Internazionale manager Roberto Mancini and Frank Rijkaard tipped to take over at Stamford Bridge.
