Drogba said: “I learned that the manager was going when he told me personally — before the club made it official.
“It was a shock because I literally did not believe it could happen to a guy like him.
“When Mourinho went to say goodbye for the last time in the dressing room it only lasted five minutes but it was an immensely strong moment and very moving.
“To watch him empty his locker so quickly and with such little fuss was terrible.
“Some around me were crying. It’s a shame if you are sensitive. He kissed us, one by one — except a few!
“Then he said ‘I wish you good luck to you and to your families and I thank you all. Even those who betrayed me’.
“Mourinho didn’t stay a second longer after that because I think he would have burst into tears.
“Then it was like fireworks in the dressing room.
“I really feared that everything was going to explode.
“Finally a sense of resignation sunk over us and my initial feeling, just like a lot of players I think, was to feel alone.
“It was almost like being an orphan after the departure of a father.
“Over the following days I struggled to look at some people without getting angry.
“Things went too far. In training, during those days, you could see some players were making basic errors, forgetting the basics of football.
“Thankfully that effect didn’t last too long.
“My opinion is that results were only an excuse for getting rid of him. Perhaps his honesty and his way of saying what he thinks were not appreciated by everyone at the club.
“Mourinho explained to me what had happened in the few weeks prior to his departure and I understood why he went.
“I prefer not to share that, I just want to say that I have been really badly surprised by some people.
“I understand now what Mourinho meant when he told me ‘Know that I am happy to leave this place’.”
He added: “Sacking Mourinho has done a lot of harm to the squad.
“I still don’t know why we changed manager after just a month of competition. There was nothing alarming.
“If the will to sack him existed, then why not do it pre-season?
“If you trust a guy to start the season, then apart from a total catastrophe he has to get until December at least.
“But apparently Abramovich changed his philosophy.
“We players are only employees and it was out of our hands.
“I took the whole thing badly and perhaps I put too much sentiment in my relationship with the coach.”
