Howard Webb: I played a role in getting Jose Mourinho sacked at Chelsea

WORLD CUP ref Howard Webb has revealed the role in played in getting Jose Mourinho the sack.

And Webb says the Portuguese coach knew he knew Roman Abramovich were going to give him the bullet FIVE days before it happened.

Mourinho – who returns to Stamford Bridge as boss of Manchester United on Sunday – went into the final game of his first spell at the club knowing it would be his last.

Abramovich, the Chelsea owner Mourinho called ‘The Man’, had already decided to ditch him, a new book reveals.

Former top ref Howard Webb, who was in charge of the 2010 World Cup Final, described how a dishevelled and depressed Mourinho poured out his heart to him after his penultimate game with the Blues.

Telling the story in full, Webb said: “I refereed the 0-0 draw against Blackburn at Stamford Bridge and there was a goal scored by Salomon Kalou, which was disallowed for offside.

“Two minutes later there was a commotion in the technical area and I half-expected to get called over to send Jose to the stands.

“The fourth official was Peter Walton and Jose had this tablet and he has thrown it down and smashed it on the floor, saying ‘onside, onside!’.

“The goal actually onside and they would have probably gone on to win the game and Jose could have saved his job.

“After the game there was a knock at the door and Jose stood there, with his hair all a mess and his tie to one side.

“I stepped back expecting to take a volley of abuse and he said, ’can I come in?’. He was slumped in the corner and he said, ‘The Man will fire me’. He didn’t say Roman or Abramovich, he just said ‘The Man’.

“I told him, ‘don’t be stupid, you’ve just won the league twice back-to-back, you’ve had a bit of a slow start, but there’s no way he’ll fire you’.

“He said he thought it was the time. We then spoke generally about football and Portugal and then I was driving somewhere on the Thursday morning and heard on the radio the official news he’s been fired, two days after the 1-1 home draw with Rosenborg in the Champions League.

“I was genuinely disappointed because I thought he was a colourful guy who brought something to the league.”

Mourinho did not bear any grudge, though, the Webb. After the Rotherham-born official refereed Inter’s 2-0 win over Real Madrid in the Bernabeu in the 2010 Champions League Final, he gave him a hug.

“Since then he’s never once mentioned that Blackburn game or the goal that should have stood.

“When I got the PFA Merit Award in 2011, he came on the big screen and said I was a man you expect to get big decisions right, which was a great thing to say even if I don’t always do that.”