“He’s the son I never had, and the best manager in the game”
– Sam Longson, Derby County chairman, on Brian Clough, May 1969 “He’s
become too big for his boots. I got him to resign and proposed we accepted
it” – Longson after manoeuvring Clough out, October 1973
History has a habit of repeating itself, and Jose Mourinho, like Clough, will
return to haunt his old club one day. For those of us who were around at the
time, when “Old Big ’Ead”, as he came to style himself, was still “Young Big
’Ead”, Clough’s demise at Derby has obvious parallels with Mourinho’s
departure from Chelsea in midweek.
After winning the league title and reaching the semi-finals of the European
Cup, the most charismatic manager of his generation was forced out by a
board envious of his stratospheric profile and popularity, and moved on to
greater glory with Derby’s arch-rivals, Nottingham Forest, where he won not
only the league but the European Cup twice, in successive seasons.
As a young reporter on the Derby Evening Telegraph, I remember Longson
bragging that he had “called Clough’s bluff” and the old boy’s subsequent
chagrin when his nemesis embarrassed him just along the A52. It is not
difficult to envisage Mourinho doing the same to another jealous autocrat,
Roman Abramovich, at Chelsea. The self-anointed “Special One” said he
intended to return to Premier League management one day, and although the
terms of his severance package, which includes a confidentiality clause,
preclude him from doing so this season, Tottenham are by no means alone in
their eagerness to oblige him in the future.
Mourinho’s agent, Jorge Mendes, claimed there had already been nine offers,
from England and abroad, and the man himself said two of them were
“serious”. Mourinho indicated that his intention was to resume work on the
Continent, citing Italy and Germany as possibilities. Eventually, though, he
will be back. Three months ago, during Chelsea’s preseason trip to the
United States, he confided that it would be “an interesting challenge” to
“turn around” another English club one day, and went as far as mentioning
Manchester City, Newcastle and Everton, mischievously adding Liverpool,
where his rivalry with Rafa Benitez turned to enmity after their contentious
Champions League semi-final in 2005.
Yesterday Mourinho said: “I hope to come back and work here, for sure. I love
English football and I will definitely come back, but it will have to be the
step after my next one.” Chelsea are certain to miss him, having hastily
appointed a successor, Avram Grant, who, at his inaugural press conference
on Friday, had unfortunate echoes of Tottenham’s unlamented Christian Gross.
Like Gross, who came to London from Switzer-land, Grant has enjoyed success
in a minor footballing country, Israel, but has done nothing to suggest that
he is up to the task of managing a top English club.
His modest CV, awkward grasp of the English language and lugubrious manner are
in stark contrast to his predecessor. The new set-up hardly squares with the
declared aim to become “internationally recognised as the world’s No 1 club
by 2014”. It was Chelsea’s chief executive, Peter Kenyon, who set that
target at the beginning of August. Mind you, he also said: “It’s critically
important Jose is still here after a season when we got to a stage where
nobody thought he would be, apart from the people inside the club.”
In truth, Mourinho was always on borrowed time. It ran out at 5.35pm on
Sunday, September 2, when, in a gladiatorial gesture seen by millions on Sky
TV, Abramovich turned his thumb down, and his back, on a floundering Chelsea
team and walked out 10 minutes before the end of their 2-0 defeat at Villa
Park. Incensed by the ineptitude, real or perceived, that he had just
witnessed, his inclination was to terminate the manager’s three-year tenure
there and then, and he had to be dissuaded from doing so by Kenyon and the
club chairman, Bruce Buck.
Their advice, influenced by Mourinho’s messianic standing with the fans, was
to wait for a more propitious moment to act. That quickly arrived after
consecutive disappointing draws at Stamford Bridge, against Black-burn last
Saturday (0-0) and Rosenborg in the Champions League in midweek (1-1), when
the stadium was barely half-full.
Mourinho must have guessed his number was up when Abramovich was caught on
camera laughing as the Norwegian also-rans’ goal went in. Afterwards he had
a 20-minute conversation with his favourite player and confidant, Andriy
Shevchenko, then he decided enough was enough. There were no dissenting
voices this time, and, for all the talk of “mutual agreement”, Mourinho was
in effect sacked on Wednesday night.
If the timing was a surprise, confirmation that the estrangement of owner and
manager had become terminal was anything but. They were at odds for the
whole of last season, when they were not on speaking terms for months on
end. Abramovich ceased even to attend matches for a time. It was common
knowledge that his agents were sounding out potential successors to
Mourinho, who, for his employer, had become too big for his Gucci size
nines.
There was an element of envy here. As a businessman, Abramovich does not
subscribe to the cult of the manager and always resented the fact that
having paid the thick end of £200m for the players the fans adore, it was
Mourinho who received all the credit. “Why do they never sing my name?”
Abramovich has asked Kenyon. It was bad enough that Mourinho’s attritional
tactics were not to the liking of Abramovich, who hankered after “The
Beautiful Game”, as played by Arsenal at a fraction of the price. Much worse
for the man who had poured £500m into the club was the manager’s assertion,
more than once in the past year, that he had been denied the resources
needed for sustained success.
In two transfer windows, last January and again during the summer, Mourinho
claimed that he had been refused funds for the reinforcements he wanted.
Abramovich was infuriated by the implied criticism and said that if Mourinho
needed more centre-halves, he shouldn’t have sold William Gallas and Robert
Huth. The ultimate affront was Mourinho’s florid analogy on the eve of the
Rosenborg match, when he likened his situation to that of a chef trying to
make an omelette without the best eggs. “The style of how we play is very
important, but it is omelette and eggs,” he said. “ In the super-market you
have class one, two and three eggs, and some are more expensive than others
and give you better omelettes. When class one eggs are in Waitrose and you
cannot go there, you have a problem.” Abramovich exploded over that one.
After paying Harrods prices, the yolk was not going to be on him.
From the aesthetic viewpoint, Mourinho’s pragmatic, winning-is-everything
football was a major bone of contention, and few will dispute that
Abramovich was entitled to a tad more entertainment for his investment. It
was his hands-on approach to getting it that led to the great clash of egos.
Mourinho, whose custom and preference was to pick and choose his own staff,
always objected strongly when Abramovich took a hand in such things, and
their first seismic disagreement came in June 2005.
Having won the Premiership for the first time, Mourinho opposed the
recruitment, in an unspecified capacity, of Frank Arnesen (his job
description became chief scout), who had been Tottenham’s director of
football until he was suspended for negotiating a move to Stamford Bridge.
Arnesen was photographed on Abramovich’s yacht (or rather one of his three),
an illegal approach for which Chelsea were fined £5m. Mourinho made it plain
that he neither wanted nor needed the Dane. The two men never got on and
Mourinho recently blamed Arnesen for the dearth of good young players coming
through Chelsea’s youth system.
The manager saw it as more unwelcome interference when Abramovich, in search
of a sprinkling of stardust, courted Ukraine’s Shevchenko, a friend, and
Germany’s captain, Michael Ballack, at the end of the 2005-6 season, when
Chelsea had again been champions. Nearly £55m was spent on acquiring the two
players, neither of whom Mourinho wanted. They were accommodated only on
sufferance. Unsurprisingly in the circumstances, neither has been a success,
which Mourinho greeted with an “I told you so” attitude that only
antagonised his boss further.
It was against this background that Mourinho threatened to resign in January,
when Abramovich first made a move for Grant, saying he could “get more” out
of the team, particularly Shevchenko. Any manager would bridle at such a
slight, and Kenyon had to work overtime as peacemaker to prevent a
mid-season divorce.
Three months ago, when Grant left Portsmouth, where he was technical director,
to join Chelsea after all, it was clear that Mourinho’s power base had been
seriously eroded and his nose put out of joint. As sporting director, the
man who was close to taking Israel to the 2006 World Cup was given
wide-ranging powers involving coaching and player recruitment. More
significantly, Grant had the ear of Abramovich. The two men had forged a
friendship since their introduction in 2004 by the so-called super-agent,
Pini Zahavi.
Mourinho didn’t like it, regarding Grant as Abramovich’s dressing room “nark”,
but was told to lump it. He was left in no doubt that if he refused to work
with Grant and could not establish a better working relationship with
Arnesen, he would be sacked. He soldiered on until last Tuesday night, when
the Rosenborg result rendered his position untenable.
Whither now Chelsea? Nowhere fast, unless it is backwards. It is interesting
that Grant has been denied the title of manager – his job designation is
head coach – and that no contract has been agreed. His credentials would not
merit a second glance at any other top club, and the next few games,
including Manchester United this afternoon, Hull City away in the Carling
Cup and Valencia in the Champions League, have an ominous look about them.
The smart roubles are on another change next summer, by which time Guus
Hiddink will have had his fill of Moscow. And Mourinho? Like Terry Venables
with Alan Sugar, he has learnt the hard way that the money men always win in
the end. That said, the “Special One” can cry all the way to the bank with
his £17m payoff. English football will be the poorer without him.
Where to next? Top clubs in contention for Mourinho
Atletico Madrid
Their big-spending summer, more than £50m shelled out, has not produced
top-four form for Mexican coach Javier Aguirre. A strong Portuguese
connection at the club could make Atletico an appealing challenge
Internazionale
Roberto Mancini guided Inter to their fi rst scudetto in 18 seasons last May,
but the pressure is never entirely off and Inter are long-time admirers
Juventus
Claudio Ranieri had started well at Juve until a defeat last Sunday, but if
his pursuit of a top-four place, and a spot in next season’s Champions
League, begins to falter, Juve may look elsewhere
Barcelona
Coach Frank Rijkaard has been heavily criticised, but only a deep crisis would
lead Barça to look up Mourinho after so much bad feeling developed during
Champions League jousts with Chelsea
Milan Carlo Ancelotti has won the Champions League twice in four
seasons, but with an ageing squad he may be ready for new challenges
Tottenham
Martin Jol will be dismayed by reports that Spurs are furiously hitting
‘redial’ as they try to contact Mourinho’s agent. Mourinho says he would
love to work in England again, but not this season
Real Madrid
Madrid approached Mourinho early this year, but Bernd Schuster’s 100% league
record offers him some security. For now
Portugal
Mourinho says he’d like it one day, but has ruled out replacing Luiz Felipe
Scolari in time for Euro 2008, should his country qualify
Chelsea under Mourinho
2004-05 Premier League champions, Carling Cup winners, Champions League
semifinals
2005-06 Premier League champions
2006-07 FA Cup, left, Carling Cup, Premier League runners-up, Champions
League semifinals
- Mourinho was in charge for 185 matches, winning 124, drawing 40 and losing
21. That impressive record includes a 60-match unbeaten run in Premier
League matches at Stamford Bridge
The Rich One: Mourinho tops cash league
Jose Mourinho, 44, football coach
- The Special One really did have a special contract at Chelsea. His original
£5m-a-year deal, signed when he moved from Porto to Stamford Bridge back in
2004, was raised to £5.2m in the summer of 2005. This made him easily the
highest-paid manager in the Premier League
-Mourinho’s personality, wit, good looks and charisma not only brought him a
large female following, but also made him a hugely attractive marketing tool
and he quickly registered his name as a brand
- His appeal to blue chip companies was evident when American Express paid him
£750,000 for two hours’ work. Other deals with Armani, adidas and Samsung,
right, easily added another £1m annually on top of his salary from Chelsea n
In his Chelsea reign of just over three years, Mourinho should have earned
in excess of £18m. His contract had three years to run – and would no doubt
have included further pay rises had he stayed. By paying an estimated £17m,
Roman Abramovich has actually got rid of him cheaply. That £17m package,
agreed in just 15 minutes and comprising his contract in full and
compensation for image rights, should take the Portuguese’s fortune to more
than £34m for what is in effect three years’ work
- With Internazionale rumoured to be ready to offer him an £8m-a-year contract
to coach in Milan, there is some mileage to go in the rise of ‘the Rich One’
- Even now, his £34m fortune makes him easily the richest manager in world
football . . . provided he had his tax affairs organised appropriately
The biggest cause of the malaise at Chelsea was the rotation policy coupled with a spate of rash signings. The main benefits of a rotation policy are that players get more rest and the opposition does not automatically know what players are going to be in the side or what the tactics will be. However, it affects players’ confidence levels, and can seriously damage morale. When a rotation policy is taken to an extreme, as with Chelsea, it really starts to cause a lot of problems. Signing Andriy Shevchenko showed bad judgment on the part of whoever had the idea to sign him, players like Ashley Cole were totally unnecessary buys, made to stop the opposition having them, and Ballack and Boulahrouz just did not take off.
Karl Chads, London, UK
It may go against the grain of popular opinion, but in my view in footballing terms, Mourinho was only a moderate success at Chelsea.
£500 million poured in, effectively limitless transfer funds and wage-paying potential, yet he couldn't build an entertaining team, couldn't reach the Champions League final, and coudn't even retain the Premier league title more than once.
I think the only special thing about him is how he seems to have hoodwinked people into thinking he's special.
Jonni Wood, London, UK
well, the man is unstopable. to be quite honest I didn't like him at first, but we've got to hand to him: he is special
james, london, uk