Jose Mourinho has oficially been sacked as Chelsea manager, and to be be brutally honest, the club are worse off for it.

Since Roman Abramovich took over as owner 12 years ago, no other Chelsea manager has enjoyed the level of success Mourinho has, no manager has bonded with the club's fans the way he did.

Nevertheless, the show must go, and a new man must step up to try and steer Chelsea away from the depths of despair.

Here we take a look at the candidates to take over in the short-term in southwest London.

Brendan Rodgers

Rodgers is currently out of work after being sacked by Liverpool earlier this season. The Northern Irishman has Chelsea connections, having worked under Jose Mourinho during his first spell with the club.

While it's true that Rodgers came close to winning the title with Liverpool in 2013-14, his brand has been damaged by his dismissal at Anfield following a poor-run.

Rodgers will surely return to management in the near future, but its difficult to imagine Chelsea taking on a manager who failed recently with a rival Premier League club.

Antonio Conte

This is the man who led Juventus to three consecutive Serie A titles during his 2011-14 reign at the Turin club and is the current manager of Italy.

According to the Independant, he is Chelsea's "preferred target" to replace Mourinho.

However, he does have coaching duties with Italy and with Euro 2016 approaching he surely wouldn't leave the Azzurri. However, according to reports, the Italian could combine duties.

It is unlikely though that Abramovich would agree to such an arrangement.

Juande Ramos

Juande Ramos is a name Premier League fans should remember and one they soon might get reacquainted with soon.

The Spaniard has a long coaching CV that includes a brief stint at Tottenham in 2007-08. According to the Times Ramos is a shock candidate to lead the club in an interim role until the end of the season.

Ramos has loads of experience having coached at Real Madrid and CSKA Moscow. However, his record doesn't quite stand up, with just a 28% winning record in the Premier League, simply not good enough for a club with Chelsea's ambitions.

Fabio Capello

Fabio Capello is a vastly experienced manager with some of the biggest names from club and international football on his resume.

You could easily assume that Capello would have the ability to juggle the egos in both the dressing room and manager's suite at Stamford Bridge.

Capello is open to getting back into management following his departure from the Russian National Team over the summer and knows the English game from his time managing the England National Team.

However, some Chelsea players might be put off by his demanding methods in training.

Guus Hiddink

Chelsea supporters know Guus Hiddink well. Owner Roman Abramovich brought in the Dutch manager in early 2009 to pick up the pieces from Luiz Felipe Scolari's reign.

Hiddink left Chelsea at the end of that season, ending a brief spell in London. But it was a successful one, with the Blues lifting the FA Cup at Wembley in May.

It must be remembered though that Hiddink did fail in last managerial role with the Netherlands National Team and this could persuade Abramovich to look elsewhere.

Considering his history with the club, its likely Hiddink is the man to get the job.