The pedigree name in the field, but Chelsea will have to battle their way to the front of a long queue of serious suitors.

After winning titles by the cabinet load at Barcelona, the 44-year-old has kept a dressing room of big egos pulling in the right direction at Bayern Munich, taking the Germans to the Champions League last four in both his full seasons in charge.

Image source, Getty Images

If you're eagle-eyed, you will have noticed that your lovely Sportsday offering is not only bringing you today's news, but now also the chance to vote on who you think should be Chelsea's next permanent manager.

There's loads of options there, too many to list, but we'll look at some of them in-depth over the next few minutes.

Pete Graham: Poison came in with Hazard. Jose's rant at Carneiro really showed he did not trust him, just like he didn't vs Leicester.

Pan: Is it Chelsea FC or Mourinho FC? Seems to be the latter for some Chelsea fans.

Phil Culverhouse: Why bother asking who will be next at Chelsea? They are only going to fire him after this season &then the next a few years on

The BBC's Garry Richardson claims Jose Mourinho said he had a “couple of bad apples” in his Chelsea team that were causing him “lots of problems”.

Speaking on 5 live Sport on Thursday evening, Richardson said one of his sources had told him the Portuguese spoke of his frustration at being unable to handle the disruptive influences.

Image source, Getty Images

Norwich manager Alex Neil: "I'm not suggesting that discord from the players is the case, but you have a team that won the league last year that is not anywhere near the standard they were last season.

"The manager is the same, the players are the same. I can't tell you what the problem is, but something isn't quite right."

There's a lot of love forJose MourinhofromTony Pulis. 

"He's the greatest manager in this league at the moment," said the West Brom manager. 

"We have managed against each other for a bit. He has been very good to me. The times I have spent with him, he is a different character. He is very funny and has a good sense of humour. He is good company.

"My little grandson came to the game last year. Mourinho was kicking around with him before the game and chasing after him."

Image source, Getty Images

OK, we've rounded up all the stories from the rest of the sporting world over the past hour or so, but now we return to the main headline - Jose Mourinho's departure from Chelsea.

Premier League managers have been holding their usual weekend media conferences and have been having their say on the former Blues boss.

Financially troubled Bolton Wanderers should avoid administration, says manager Neil Lennon.

Image source, Rex Features

The Championship's bottom side are speaking to a number of parties about a takeover from owner Eddie Davies.

Last week they were issued with a winding-up petition by HMRC and their players were not paid in November.

However, Lennon told BBC Radio Manchester: "There are due to be paid on the 29th and from what I gather they will get a percentage of the money and the rest will be made up by the PFA."

World Rugby is to trial the use of two on-field referees in New Zealand's 2016 provincial championship.

The decision follows a review of the rules by rugby's governing body.

Each referee's responsibilities have not been specified but it is thought the second official will police a new offside line a metre back from rucks.

Two referees have never been used in rugby union before but Australia's National Rugby League has had two on-field officials since 2009, external.

Image source, Getty Images

England centre Henry Slade has set his sights on a place on the tour to Australia next summer as he recovers from a broken leg. 

The 22-year-old suffered the injury in the win over Wasps earlier this month and is likely to be out until March, ruling him out of the Six Nations. 

"At the minute I'd just like to get back fit and be playing for Exeter. Then if I get selected in the summer to go to Australia that would be awesome," Slade told BBC South West.

Southampton boss Ronald Koeman says his side are in danger of being sucked into a Premier League relegation battle.

Saints have taken just one point from their last four games to slip to 12th in the table.

Image source, PA

"If we don't get wins in the next couple of weeks, we'll be close to the teams who might be struggling against relegation," said Koeman.

However, the Dutchman, 52, believes they have what it takes to turn their recent poor form around.

Manchester United know how well striker James Wilson is performing during his loan spell at Brighton, according to Albion boss Chris Hughton.

Wilson, 22, has scored two goals in four appearances since joining the Championship side in November.

Image source, PA

"We keep them informed of his game, his physical stats and his video clips," Hughton told BBC Sussex.

"That is all sent through to Manchester United. They are aware of what he has done on a daily basis."

If you missed last night's show on 5 live last night, featuring in-depth interviews with Stuart Broad and Joe Root, you can download it now as a podcast from the 5 live website. 

There's plenty of behind-the-scenes stories, insight, and the odd mention of David Warner... 

Image source, Getty Images

Cardiff Blues have signed former Australia prop Salesi Ma'afu following his release by French club Toulon.

Ma'afu, 32, left the European champions by mutual agreement after being found guilty of assault and given a suspended four-month prison sentence last month.

Image source, PA

In a statement, Blues said Ma'afu had joined "with immediate effect - subject to the normal visa process"

"We are thrilled to sign Salesi and welcome him to Cardiff Blues," said head coach Danny Wilson.

Ben Proud has broken Mark Foster's 14-year-old short-course 50m freestyle British record.

The 21-year-old, who won two Commonwealth gold medals in 2014, swam 20.74 to beat the mark set by Foster in January 2001 by 0.39 seconds.

Image source, Getty Images

"As soon as I nailed my turn, I knew it was going to be a fast swim but I didn't think it would be sub-21 seconds," Proud told swimming.org., external

The Plymouth Leander swimmer was racing at the ASA's winter meet in Sheffield.

Rory McIlroy will have a busier early-season schedule in 2016 than previous years as he aims to reclaim the world number one spot before the Masters.

Northern Irishman McIlroy, 26, has dropped to three in the rankings behind Jordan Spieth and Jason Day but the margin between the top three is small.

Image source, Getty Images

"If I can get off to a good start next year, I can get back to number one going into the Masters," said McIlroy.

"I'm going to play two more tournaments leading up to Augusta in April."

Everton striker Romelu Lukaku says a Champions League place is a "very realistic" aim this season.

The Toffees are 10th in the Premier League and six points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester United, who hold the final Champions League qualifying spot.

Everton host surprise leaders Leicester on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

"We want to do well in the League Cup and FA Cup but the Champions League spot is the main goal," Lukaku, 22, told BBC Football Focus.

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Villa manager Remi Garde has questioned Charles N'Zogbia's commitment and indicated he may offload high-earning players in January.

Garde, whose side are bottom of the Premier League, has not picked the midfielder in his last three squads.

Frenchman N'Zogbia, 29, joined Villa from Wigan for about £9.5m and is out of contract in June.

"Charles could have given more to the team in the first two or three weeks after I came," said Garde.

Right, it's just coming up to 10:00, and we've given you a Jose Mourinho-packed opening two hours to this Sportsday.

We'll return to our biggest story shortly, but, for now, we'll round up some of the other headlines, starting with a little more football...

Elliot Dowling: I can agree with Jose going, the players did good last year, meaning there was an issue with how they were used this year..

FK: Irresponsible players, irresponsible owner/management. With Chelsea, there's no such thing as credit in the bank.