Former Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has admitted his surprise that Roman Abramovich sacked the club's "most successful" and "dearest" coach in Jose Mourinho, and insisted the decision shows the Russian billionaire owner hasn't changed his ways.

Abramovich and the Chelsea hierarchy decided to relieve Mourinho of his duties in December following the club's worst start to a season since the 1978-79 campaign, just six months after the Portuguese tactician led the Blues to the Premier League title.

Before he did that, though, Abramovich publicly backed Mourinho in October - the first time he has shown support for a struggling coach at Chelsea in such a manner - although subsequent results led the Blues owner to replace Mourinho with interim manager Guus Hiddink.

Villas-Boas - who was himself sacked by Chelsea after less than a year in charge of the club in 2012 - has now spoken out over Mourinho's departure from the team, saying he found it "incredible" Abramovich got rid of the best manager his club have ever had.

Speaking to beIN Sports, he said: "The only thing that has been quite incredible to see is that it was applied to everybody. It was applied for their dearest coach and their most successful coach.

Chelsea vs Everton - player ratings 13 show all Chelsea vs Everton - player ratings 1/13 Thibaut Courtois: 6 Only had to deal with one test in the first half, but rose to the challenge in fine fashion when he made a diving save to deny Lennon. Couldn't do too much about the first two goals, with his defence massively letting him down, but was caught ball-watching ahead of Everton's third. 2/13 Branislav Ivanovic: 5 Did well to get forward and help in Chelsea's attack while tracking back when needed. But the right-back let himself down late on when he completely failed to mark Funes Mori for Everton's third, although he went forward and was then involved in Chelsea's late equaliser. 3/13 Kurt Zouma: 6 Was superb in the first half, as he made several clearances and used his pace to cover for Terry twice. A rare slip which allowed Lennon a shot at goal and his failure to track the run of Funes Mori and indeed Lukaku ahead of Everton's third was costly. 4/13 John Terry: 6 On what was his 700th club appearance, the Chelsea captain started the game having to be helped by Zouma after being outpaced by Lukaku, and then scored an own goal when he failed to sort out his feet in time to deal with Baines' cross. However, he salvaged his day with a well-taken equaliser late on which appeared offside on later inspection. 5/13 Cesar Azpilicueta: 6 Defended well enough while proving important when Chelsea went on the attack in the second half in search of goals, regularly linking up with his teammates to help create chances with his overlapping runs. 6/13 Nemanja Matic: 5 Making his return to the starting line-up, the midfielder lost concentration at time, giving the ball away and being unable to dominate despite being paired with another defensive player in Mikel. Was hauled off for Oscar in the second half. 7/13 John Obi Mikel: 4 Was sloppy, like Matic, at times during the first period and was forced to use his strength to try and control proceedings in the middle of the park although he was lucky to escape a booking for it. He then disappointed when he failed to apply any pressure on Mirallas ahead of the winger's goal. 8/13 Willian: 6 Another hard-working performance from the Brazilian which saw him have the only shot of the first half although it was saved and come close to scoring another in the second with the score locked at 2-2 9/13 Cesc Fabregas: 8 Started the game further up the pitch in the 'hole', and despite losing possession once, the Spaniard linked up well with his teammates to create attacks - nearly scoring with a back-heel effort as Chelsea trailed 2-0. But he really flourished when Oscar came on, dropping deep and first providing the long-range pass that Costa scored from before getting a goal himself. His revival under Hiddink continues. 10/13 Pedro: 5 Appeared to be trying hard to impress following his disappointing showing against West Brom. Although he made his presence felt across the midfield areas while making sure he didn't ignore his defensive duties, he needs to be stronger to avoid giving away possession - exemplified by when he was outmuscled by Mirallas. His improvement in the second half, however, shows he still has something to offer Chelsea. 11/13 Diego Costa: 8 Hardly had an impact in the first half, aside from nearly carving out a chance for himself and being involved in Willian's chance, but sprung into life in the second period. The striker used his pace to outmuscle Jagielka and score before setting up Fabregas for Chelsea's second. 12/13 Kenedy: 7 Injected pace into Chelsea's attacking play and nearly created a goal for Costa, but the striker couldn't convert. He then started the move that ended in Terry scoring. 13/13 Oscar: 6 His substitution in the second half allowed Fabregas to return to his more comfortable position beside Mikel while the Brazilian then started the move that led to the Spaniard's equaliser and was involved in Terry's goal. An inspired change from Hiddink although he has to take the blame for allowing Deulofeu to send the cross into the area for goal-scorer Funes Mori. 1/13 Thibaut Courtois: 6 Only had to deal with one test in the first half, but rose to the challenge in fine fashion when he made a diving save to deny Lennon. Couldn't do too much about the first two goals, with his defence massively letting him down, but was caught ball-watching ahead of Everton's third. 2/13 Branislav Ivanovic: 5 Did well to get forward and help in Chelsea's attack while tracking back when needed. But the right-back let himself down late on when he completely failed to mark Funes Mori for Everton's third, although he went forward and was then involved in Chelsea's late equaliser. 3/13 Kurt Zouma: 6 Was superb in the first half, as he made several clearances and used his pace to cover for Terry twice. A rare slip which allowed Lennon a shot at goal and his failure to track the run of Funes Mori and indeed Lukaku ahead of Everton's third was costly. 4/13 John Terry: 6 On what was his 700th club appearance, the Chelsea captain started the game having to be helped by Zouma after being outpaced by Lukaku, and then scored an own goal when he failed to sort out his feet in time to deal with Baines' cross. However, he salvaged his day with a well-taken equaliser late on which appeared offside on later inspection. 5/13 Cesar Azpilicueta: 6 Defended well enough while proving important when Chelsea went on the attack in the second half in search of goals, regularly linking up with his teammates to help create chances with his overlapping runs. 6/13 Nemanja Matic: 5 Making his return to the starting line-up, the midfielder lost concentration at time, giving the ball away and being unable to dominate despite being paired with another defensive player in Mikel. Was hauled off for Oscar in the second half. 7/13 John Obi Mikel: 4 Was sloppy, like Matic, at times during the first period and was forced to use his strength to try and control proceedings in the middle of the park although he was lucky to escape a booking for it. He then disappointed when he failed to apply any pressure on Mirallas ahead of the winger's goal. 8/13 Willian: 6 Another hard-working performance from the Brazilian which saw him have the only shot of the first half although it was saved and come close to scoring another in the second with the score locked at 2-2 9/13 Cesc Fabregas: 8 Started the game further up the pitch in the 'hole', and despite losing possession once, the Spaniard linked up well with his teammates to create attacks - nearly scoring with a back-heel effort as Chelsea trailed 2-0. But he really flourished when Oscar came on, dropping deep and first providing the long-range pass that Costa scored from before getting a goal himself. His revival under Hiddink continues. 10/13 Pedro: 5 Appeared to be trying hard to impress following his disappointing showing against West Brom. Although he made his presence felt across the midfield areas while making sure he didn't ignore his defensive duties, he needs to be stronger to avoid giving away possession - exemplified by when he was outmuscled by Mirallas. His improvement in the second half, however, shows he still has something to offer Chelsea. 11/13 Diego Costa: 8 Hardly had an impact in the first half, aside from nearly carving out a chance for himself and being involved in Willian's chance, but sprung into life in the second period. The striker used his pace to outmuscle Jagielka and score before setting up Fabregas for Chelsea's second. 12/13 Kenedy: 7 Injected pace into Chelsea's attacking play and nearly created a goal for Costa, but the striker couldn't convert. He then started the move that ended in Terry scoring. 13/13 Oscar: 6 His substitution in the second half allowed Fabregas to return to his more comfortable position beside Mikel while the Brazilian then started the move that led to the Spaniard's equaliser and was involved in Terry's goal. An inspired change from Hiddink although he has to take the blame for allowing Deulofeu to send the cross into the area for goal-scorer Funes Mori.

"So in the end, we have seen nothing different. Roman has sacked basically every coach he had and is no different - it happened even to the best.

"The same criteria he applied to me, to Rafa Benitez and for all the other coaches, he has applied to Jose as well. And it's [now] a new chapter."