Chelsea have sacked their Israeli coach Avram Grant after they slipped to defeat in the Champions League final and came second in the Premiership. Many will feel sorry for Grant, after he seemed to recover the Blues' season.

A statement on the club's official website read: "Chelsea Football Club can confirm that Avram Grant has had his contract as manager terminated. 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."

Some of the replacements mooted for Avram include Frank Rijkaard and Michael Laudrup; and even more shockingly - Jose Mourinho.