SOCCER:RAY WILKINS has been left devastated by his surprise dismissal with immediate effect as assistant coach at Chelsea .The 54-year-old knew nothing about his sacking before being called to meet with Ron Gourlay, the chief executive, while watching Chelsea's reserves play a training-ground friendly against Bayern Munich at lunchtime yesterday.

His contract had entered its final months and it was up for renewal but Wilkins, who had stood alongside the manager Carlo Ancelotti while the second string took on the German team, did not see what was coming.

Gourlay informed him that not only was his deal not going to be continued but that he would have to leave immediately.

Sources at the club described the decision as “clinical”, but characteristic of Chelsea’s ruthlessness in decision-making at executive levels.

Chelsea have stressed there had been no major disagreements involving Wilkins and the other coaching staff or executives but the truth behind his departure lies less with what he did wrong and more with what he no longer did right.

Wilkins had seen a fundamental part of his responsibilities disappear, or no longer carry quite the same value. When he was hurriedly appointed by the club in the wake of the former assistant coach Steve Clarke’s departure to West Ham United in September 2008, he was seen as the man to help the then manager at the time, the Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari, adapt to the demands of English football, particularly off the field.

As a former Chelsea captain and coach – he had worked under Gianluca Vialli – Wilkins had no little credibility but, moreover, it was his contacts within the English game and his knowledge of the authorities and their procedures – in short, who knew who and how things worked – that made him appear as the ideal sidekick for an overseas manager.

Wilkins served under Scolari, Guus Hiddink and Ancelotti, and he would even address the media at press conferences on occasion, to take the pressure off the manager, most notably when things began to go wrong for Scolari.

Yet this aspect of his employment had become less important, not least because Ancelotti has settled into England and English football so well – he has learned to speak the language – and, also, because he brought with him his long-time confidante Bruno Demichelis when he arrived from Milan.

Demichelis, a sports psychologist who speaks fluent English, has the title of assistant coach but his role is as the club’s scientific co-ordinator.

Although Ancelotti praised Wilkins highly in his recently published autobiography, going so far as to say that “without him, we couldn’t have won a thing”, the coaching dynamics have shifted at Chelsea.

Wilkins, though a good coach in his own right and a well-liked member of staff, lacked Clarke’s panache and his input into Ancelotti’s training sessions was moderate, largely because the Italian is such a hands-on coach. The bottom line, as Wilkins began his soul-searching, was that if Ancelotti had wanted to keep him then there is no doubt that Wilkins would have been retained.

With Gourlay firmly in control of the club’s business plan, it is clear that Chelsea have decided to make an upgrade in the department.

The search for a new assistant is now under way, with early contenders including Filippo Galli, one of Ancelotti’s assistants at Milan, and Paolo Maldini, the great ex-Milan defender.

Chelsea announced Wilkins’s departure on their website early in the afternoon.

The club, meanwhile, are still considering appealing the red card and consequent three-match ban received by midfielder Michael Essien against Fulham on Wednesday night.

Essien, who headed the matchwinner on the half-hour to give Chelsea a 1-0 win, was dismissed by referee Martin Atkinson in the final minute of injury time for a two-footed lunge on Fulham striker Clint Dempsey.

Ancelotti maintains that Essien’s tackle was not dangerous and the club are still considering whether to appeal against the dismissal.