Bruce Buck became Chelsea's chairman, succeeding Ken Bates, in 2004

Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck has urged supporters to move on from Jose Mourinho after taking an "anguishing" decision to sack their most successful manager again.

Buck, 69, was part of the 10-minute meeting along with director Eugene Tenenbaum in which Mourinho was dismissed by the club for a second time on Thursday.

Sky sources understand that Dutchman Guus Hiddink, who was caretaker of Chelsea in 2009, is expected to take temporary charge again but he will not be in the dugout for the Premier League clash with Sunderland on Saturday.

And American Buck took to his programme notes for the clash at Stamford Bridge to assure fans that what has been done "is in the best interests of the club".

Buck said: "We have received many letters and emails from fans over the last few weeks expressing their variety of views.

"Although we cannot respond to every communication we appreciate you taking the time to contact us with your thoughts, and we read and considered them all.

"I can assure you it was not a decision we took lightly, nor was it a spur-of-the-moment decision. Mr Abramovich and the board anguished over it for some time.

Chelsea fans remained behind Jose Mourinho despite their dismal season

"But the start we have made to the season has come as a major disappointment to the owner, the board and Chelsea fans everywhere, and I think it is fair to say nobody expected us to be in the position we are in.

"Please believe me when I say the decision was made for no reason other than to do what we believe is in the best interests of this club.

"We will not forget what Jose achieved here during two spells as manager. He has overseen some of our most famous triumphs and we will always have a huge amount of respect for him."

"Now we have to look forward and, in order to make the most out of what remains of this campaign, we believed a managerial change was needed.

"There is still a great deal to play for - Premier League points, the FA Cup and the Champions League - and we want to give it everything in all those competitions.

"We are one of the biggest clubs in the world and we are determined as a collective unit to get back to where we should be. We cannot do that without you (the fans) being fully behind us. We need to be together going forward."