George: Aside from the considerable success he had at Chelsea, Antonio Conte had a huge impact on the Premier League and actually the England national team. His introduction of 3 at the back was adopted by so many Premier League teams that it's unlikely it would have been used for this World Cup and the success it helped bring. - George,
Nicola: Antonio Conte has been a class act and gave us some amazing moments over the last two seasons He changed the way game is played in the league over the last two seasons and deserves a lot of credit Thank you Antonio and good luck
And on that note...
Nice work if you can get it
Just a quick note if you're feeling sorry for Antonio Conte at the moment.
Apparently the Italian had a clause in his Chelsea contract that guarantees him a pay-off, thought to be £9m, for the final year.
Nice work if you can get it. Eh.
How it happened
Italian title Gazzetta Dello Sport report that Antonio Conte was told of his sacking directly by Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck, who then left their Cobham training ground yesterday.
Shortly afterwards Conte also left, they claim, in a car driven by Carlo Cudicini.
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Chelsea chairman Bruce BuckImage caption: Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck
Post update
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Chelsea was Antonio Conte's sixth managerial job.
And he of course set a new Premier League record (since broken by Manchester City) of 30 league wins during 2016-17.
But despite a £237m plus change spend last term they only finished fifth.
It probably also didn't help that £58m record signing Alvaro Morata scored just 11 league goals and that star player Eden Hazard is reportedly being courted by Real Madrid.
What next for Willian?
Given the confusion swirling around Chelsea this week, where does one of their most impressive performers from last season stand?
The rumour mill claims that Barcelona are still very keen on Brazil international Willian and willing to pay £60m for him after having a previous bid rejected.
Will he decide to try and follow Conte out of the Stamford Bridge exit door or stay to play under Sarri?
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Willian scored 13 goals in 55 appearances for the Londoners last seasonImage caption: Willian scored 13 goals in 55 appearances for the Londoners last season
The Italian Job
It's probably also fair to say that Chelsea have form for appointing Italian managers as well.
Gianluca Vialli (1998-2000)
Claudio Ranieri (2000-2004)
Carlo Ancelotti (2009-2011)
Roberto Di Matteo (March 2012 - November 2012)
Antonio Conte (2016-2018)
Maurizio Sarri....?
Chelsea keep winning whoever the manager is
Simon Stone
BBC Sport
Antonio Conte’s Chelsea departure has been the worst kept secret of the summer.
Most clubs would be quite happy with two trophies in two seasons. Football is, after all, a results business.
Normal rules don’t apply at Stamford Bridge though. Chelsea are the club who do not need stability to win things.
They just need Roman Abramovich to fund squad building. The rest seems to take care of itself.
Chelsea kept it short and, well, not that sweet with their confirmation statement but they do have form for that.......
Get Involved
#bbcfootball or text on 81111
Eric: Now Antonio Conte has gone dies that mean we can have Diego Costa back....?
Jake: I'm a Chelsea fan and I’m jealous of other teams and the way they are run. Our club is run like a circus. It’s amazing winning trophies, and we have done that for a long time now. But I want consistency, I want to bring young players through and I want a manager to believe in. Depressing to see Antonio Conte leave, let the merry go round commence. Doesn’t matter who comes in now, they’ll be gone in 18 months.
Jorginho to Chelsea?
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Rumour has it of course that Chelsea have joined Manchester City in the battle to sign Italy midfielder Jorginho.
The 26-year-old looked to be heading to Manchester with City confident of completing a deal for about £50m.
However, things have changed in the past few days with Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis suggesting the player preferred a move to London.
"If the player would rather live in London than Manchester, I can understand that," said De Laurentiis said.
"I'll have to apologise to Manchester City.
"If Chelsea are paying him even more, I can understand that too. Jorginho and Maurizio Sarri together again? Jorginho would go to Chelsea regardless of Sarri."
Ten days and counting
Whoever the new manager is at Stamford Bridge there isn't a great deal of time to get ready for the new season.
Chelsea's first game of pre-season is the 23 July friendly with Perth Glory in
Western Australia, while the transfer window for Premier League clubs closes on 9 August.
Get Involved
#bbcfootball or text on 81111
Rob: Sacking Louis van Gaal the day after his FA Cup win, now Antonio Conte after two excellent years at Chelsea. The way of the modern game, unfortunately.
James T: A lot of 'lifelong' Chelsea fans on here missing the bigger picture. Thank you to Conte for everything he did but managers come and go in the modern game, and top players such as Diego Costa are much harder to replace. Would they have the same energy if it were Eden Hazard leaving because of Conte. I suspect not.
I'd say the last thing Antonio Conte expected was to be rocking-up for pre-season training at Chelsea a few days ago.
Supervising training, while awaiting the sack. Lovely.
More on those quick-fire changes
The Premier League's six managerial changes - from title winners to goners - in eight years is more than Europe's other four top leagues, although maybe not as much as you might expect.
The huge caveat here is that the other leagues are mostly dominated by one or two teams. In fact two of the four champions have already changed manager this summer.
Bundesliga (five times)
La Liga (four times)
Serie A (three times)
Ligue 1 (four times)
'Serial winner'
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Abrasive, animated and demanding probably cover Antonio Conte's two-year stint as Chelsea boss for me.
Well aware that he was unlikely to return he signed-off last term with a bang winning the FA Cup. Though these quotes probably didn't inspire a change of heart from club owner Roman Abramovich.
"After two years, the club knows me very well. I can't change," he said.
"I think in a difficult season like this, I showed I'm a serial winner."
Get Involved
#bbcfootball or text on 81111
Mark: Antonio Conte was a class act. When Middlesbrough were relegated at the end of the 2016-2017 season he came over and applauded our away fans for their support.
Stephen: I am really disappointed with Chelsea. Why did they just not sack him at the end of May? To allow him to turn up for the new season shows a total lack of respect. I am ashamed of my club and the way they have treated this man who was a breath of fresh air after Jose Mourinho.
Finance to Football
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
By the way did everyone get my banking reference earlier in relation to Maurizio Sarri?
Well if not here's a little explanation about how it relates to the man expected to be Antonio Conte's direct replacement at Chelsea.
From his early 20s through to his 40s the Sarri's day job was in banking not football working at Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, where he specialised in interbank finance.
Football coaching was basically for his spare time.
Live Reporting
By Steve Sutcliffe
All times stated are UK
Get involved
Post update
Right thanks for joining me this morning/afternoon.
There's more about Antonio Conte and his departure from Chelsea here.
But for now we're switching our attention to Gareth Southgate's England news conference.
You can follow that here.
Get Involved
#bbcfootball or text on 81111
George: Aside from the considerable success he had at Chelsea, Antonio Conte had a huge impact on the Premier League and actually the England national team. His introduction of 3 at the back was adopted by so many Premier League teams that it's unlikely it would have been used for this World Cup and the success it helped bring. - George,
Nicola: Antonio Conte has been a class act and gave us some amazing moments over the last two seasons He changed the way game is played in the league over the last two seasons and deserves a lot of credit Thank you Antonio and good luck
And on that note...
Nice work if you can get it
Just a quick note if you're feeling sorry for Antonio Conte at the moment.
Apparently the Italian had a clause in his Chelsea contract that guarantees him a pay-off, thought to be £9m, for the final year.
Nice work if you can get it. Eh.
How it happened
Italian title Gazzetta Dello Sport report that Antonio Conte was told of his sacking directly by Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck, who then left their Cobham training ground yesterday.
Shortly afterwards Conte also left, they claim, in a car driven by Carlo Cudicini.
Post update
Chelsea was Antonio Conte's sixth managerial job.
And he of course set a new Premier League record (since broken by Manchester City) of 30 league wins during 2016-17.
But despite a £237m plus change spend last term they only finished fifth.
It probably also didn't help that £58m record signing Alvaro Morata scored just 11 league goals and that star player Eden Hazard is reportedly being courted by Real Madrid.
What next for Willian?
Given the confusion swirling around Chelsea this week, where does one of their most impressive performers from last season stand?
The rumour mill claims that Barcelona are still very keen on Brazil international Willian and willing to pay £60m for him after having a previous bid rejected.
Will he decide to try and follow Conte out of the Stamford Bridge exit door or stay to play under Sarri?
The Italian Job
It's probably also fair to say that Chelsea have form for appointing Italian managers as well.
Chelsea keep winning whoever the manager is
Simon Stone
BBC Sport
Antonio Conte’s Chelsea departure has been the worst kept secret of the summer.
Most clubs would be quite happy with two trophies in two seasons. Football is, after all, a results business.
Normal rules don’t apply at Stamford Bridge though. Chelsea are the club who do not need stability to win things.
They just need Roman Abramovich to fund squad building. The rest seems to take care of itself.
How to make a statement with your statement
This collage of Chelsea's most recent managerial sacking statements is interesting.
Carlo Ancelotti had four paragraphs dedicated to his departure by the club.
Andre Villas Boas had three.
Jose Mourinho got four.
Conte just the two curt paragraphs.
Read into that what you will....
They didn't mince their words
Chelsea kept it short and, well, not that sweet with their confirmation statement but they do have form for that.......
Get Involved
#bbcfootball or text on 81111
Eric: Now Antonio Conte has gone dies that mean we can have Diego Costa back....?
Jake: I'm a Chelsea fan and I’m jealous of other teams and the way they are run. Our club is run like a circus. It’s amazing winning trophies, and we have done that for a long time now. But I want consistency, I want to bring young players through and I want a manager to believe in. Depressing to see Antonio Conte leave, let the merry go round commence. Doesn’t matter who comes in now, they’ll be gone in 18 months.
Jorginho to Chelsea?
Rumour has it of course that Chelsea have joined Manchester City in the battle to sign Italy midfielder Jorginho.
The 26-year-old looked to be heading to Manchester with City confident of completing a deal for about £50m.
However, things have changed in the past few days with Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis suggesting the player preferred a move to London.
"If the player would rather live in London than Manchester, I can understand that," said De Laurentiis said.
"I'll have to apologise to Manchester City.
"If Chelsea are paying him even more, I can understand that too. Jorginho and Maurizio Sarri together again? Jorginho would go to Chelsea regardless of Sarri."
Ten days and counting
Whoever the new manager is at Stamford Bridge there isn't a great deal of time to get ready for the new season.
Chelsea's first game of pre-season is the 23 July friendly with Perth Glory in Western Australia, while the transfer window for Premier League clubs closes on 9 August.
Get Involved
#bbcfootball or text on 81111
Rob: Sacking Louis van Gaal the day after his FA Cup win, now Antonio Conte after two excellent years at Chelsea. The way of the modern game, unfortunately.
James T: A lot of 'lifelong' Chelsea fans on here missing the bigger picture. Thank you to Conte for everything he did but managers come and go in the modern game, and top players such as Diego Costa are much harder to replace. Would they have the same energy if it were Eden Hazard leaving because of Conte. I suspect not.
More warm words from the players
Post update
I'd say the last thing Antonio Conte expected was to be rocking-up for pre-season training at Chelsea a few days ago.
Supervising training, while awaiting the sack. Lovely.
More on those quick-fire changes
The Premier League's six managerial changes - from title winners to goners - in eight years is more than Europe's other four top leagues, although maybe not as much as you might expect.
The huge caveat here is that the other leagues are mostly dominated by one or two teams. In fact two of the four champions have already changed manager this summer.
Bundesliga (five times)
La Liga (four times)
Serie A (three times)
Ligue 1 (four times)
'Serial winner'
Abrasive, animated and demanding probably cover Antonio Conte's two-year stint as Chelsea boss for me.
Well aware that he was unlikely to return he signed-off last term with a bang winning the FA Cup. Though these quotes probably didn't inspire a change of heart from club owner Roman Abramovich.
"After two years, the club knows me very well. I can't change," he said.
"I think in a difficult season like this, I showed I'm a serial winner."
Get Involved
#bbcfootball or text on 81111
Mark: Antonio Conte was a class act. When Middlesbrough were relegated at the end of the 2016-2017 season he came over and applauded our away fans for their support.
Stephen: I am really disappointed with Chelsea. Why did they just not sack him at the end of May? To allow him to turn up for the new season shows a total lack of respect. I am ashamed of my club and the way they have treated this man who was a breath of fresh air after Jose Mourinho.
Finance to Football
By the way did everyone get my banking reference earlier in relation to Maurizio Sarri?
Well if not here's a little explanation about how it relates to the man expected to be Antonio Conte's direct replacement at Chelsea.
From his early 20s through to his 40s the Sarri's day job was in banking not football working at Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, where he specialised in interbank finance.
Football coaching was basically for his spare time.