Peter Moore remembers the sudden disappearance of Mourinho, the darling of the tabloids
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It was an aberration when Jose Mourinho left Chelsea two and a half years ago, almost unnoticed in the dark of a September night. He was Chelsea’s most successful manager; a darling of the press and a public pantomime villain in equal measure.
Any logic would have had him trumpeted out of the London by the Lord Mayor’s brass band aboard the Queen’s own carriage. Either that or being chased down the Mall with pointed sticks flying past his ears. As it was, ‘The Special One’ disappeared into the night. Before the press knew it, he was gone.
Journalists had cause to be aggrieved. Rarely had a figure appeared with a greater talent for controversy than Mourinho. Amongst his most famous incendiary quotes were claims that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was a ‘voyeur’, that Alex Ferguson unfairly used his prestige to influence referees and that Tottenham’s defending reminded him of a bus parked in front of the goal.’ With Mourinho around, the sports paper of any national newspaper wrote themselves.
It’s apt to remember Mourinho a couple of years on. Managerial spats remain about as common as squabbles in a nursery school, but with Mourinho around they always had an extra glimmer of comedy and eloquence. In comparison with a snippet of one of Mourinho broadsides, Benitez’ attack last week upon Ferguson looked quite tame. A little like a donkey off Scarborough beach stood next to Gandalf’s Shadowfax.
So, for a touch of Monday morning amusement, and with Mourinho’s Inter Milan proudly stood at the top of Serie A, let’s bask in a bit of retro-Mourinho. Here are a few quotes from our dearly missed Portuguese friend:
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‘I’m not a defender of old or new football managers. I believe in good ones and bad ones, those that achieve success and those that don’t. Please don’t call me arrogant, but I’m European champion and I think I’m a special one.’ (June 2004)
‘As we say in Portugal, they brought the bus and they left the bus in front of the goal. I would have been frustrated if I had been a supporter who paid £50 to watch this game because Spurs came to defend. There was only one team looking to win, they only came not to concede - it’s not fair for the football we played.’ (September 2004)
‘This is nothing against Sir Alex whatsoever. After the game on Wednesday we were together in my office and we spoke and drank wine. Unfortunately it was a very bad bottle of wine and he was complaining, so when we go to Old Trafford for the second leg, on my birthday, I will take a beautiful bottle of Portuguese wine.’ (On Alex Ferguson, January 2005)
‘During the afternoon it rained only in this stadium - our kitman saw it. There must be a micro-climate here. The pitch was like a swimming pool.’
‘The moral of the story is not to listen to those who tell you not to play the violin but stick to the tambourine.’
‘If he helped me out in training we would be bottom of the league and if I had to work in his world of big business, we would be bankrupt!’ (On Roman Abramovich)
‘I think he is one of these people who is a voyeur. He likes to watch other people. There are some guys who, when they are at home, have a big telescope to see what happens in other families. He speaks, speaks, speaks about Chelsea.’ ( On Arsene Wenger, October 2005)
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Image Credit: dphuonq
• These quotes are taken from a BBC electronic article, entitled, The World According to Mourinho
Tags: Digital TV, Sport by Peter Moore
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