How does Mourinho's exit affect Arsenal?

I admit that I usually go to bed pretty late - well, for a non-student - so I saw the whole of last-night's events enfold on an almost minute by minute basis: the initial reports, dismissed; the BBC and SSN suddenly going into overdrive; the final, fatal confirmation from the club.

He's gone. And, to be frank, as Arsenal fans, we should be grateful.

People have talked about English football 'losing a personality'. To an extent this is true, but its also debatable whether he's the type of personality we really want to have around. Ok, he came out with the odd-quip that was amusing. And, ok, his ego-centric style of management very effectively took a lot of weight off his players shoulders. He was the star of the team; the players were merely his tools.

But this was also the man who branded our manager a 'voyeur', an unacceptable slight in light of the utterly odious allegations still sung about Wenger around the country, a man who bullied a senior referee out of the game, who criticised Britain's emergency services after they had saved the life of one of his players, who stood there and lied to the faces of reporters and fans around the country when asked about his role in the Ashley Cole affair. A man who accepted nothing with humility; a person who appeared to have been born without an inch of grace.

And then there was the style he implanted in his teams. To grind out a win with a deflected goal was the pinnacle of achievement in Mourinho's tactical landscape. And that he chose to play such boring, percentage football was made all the more galling by the enormous chambers of credit that lay behind him. Mourinho could, and perhaps his successor will, quite easily have constructed a team which had a style to match the substance he so clearly craved.

His tactics, his personality, the way he told his players to behave towards opponents and the bottomless pit of cash he had at his disposal will always demean his achievements. I always remember his irritation with reporters over the lack of 'respect' Chelsea had been given, despite the trophies he had won. Quite simply Jose, you never conducted yourself in a manner which would earn respect, and, hence, you were given none.

I was never truly envious of Mourinho's achievements because I felt he had earned them the wrong way, and I genuinely mean that.

But on a purely results-based level, his sacking is madness, absolute madness. Mourinho has never lost a home game. He has won five trophies in three years. And, most painfully for Arsenal fans, Wenger never beat him. Wenger vs. Mourinho was a reminder that style doesn't always win out in football, even if Mourinho was lucky to meet us during a prolonged period of transition. The 2004 crop would have beaten him, I'm sure, but I'm certainly glad to see the back of him in terms of his record against us.

So, and I'm sorry to continually bang on about this, but if any further evidence was needed that Russian oligarchs are not needed, look at Abramovich. He has just sacked the most successful manager in Chelsea's history over a whim, over the alleged failures in Mourinho's summer transfer market policy. Abramovich wants galacticos and style; Mourinho wanted hard-workers and power. There was only ever going to be one winner.

And in his place comes the stooge, Grant. And in the place of dull victories may come a serious period of instability, perhaps even dull defeats.

In the long-term, Chelsea may find a manager who can combine style and results, a Hiddink, perhaps. But such times are far in the future. For now, Mourinho's sacking should seriously dent Chelsea's hope of silverware in the coming season. Something that can only work to our advantage.