Jose Mourinho has an impressive resume, with his league titles and Portugal and England, as well as his European Cup win with Porto, yet he is still some way short of deserving a job at Manchester United.
His success has always come upon inheriting top squads, with both Chelsea and Porto finishing 2nd in their leagues before he took over. With Chelsea, he dismantled that squad, and by the time he left, the squad was worse than it was when he initially took the job. There were of course two league titles in between that time, an impressive feat no doubt, but when rivals United and Arsenal weren’t up to much.
The football is teams played would not be accepted at United. With all the money in the World at Chelsea, the opportunity to buy pretty much any player he liked, Chelsea’s football was defensive and controlled. Sure, they were efficient, and that meant they won trophies, but at the cost of entertaining football. Whilst the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have proved that is entirely possible to play thrilling football that wins trophies, on budgets smaller than Mourinho’s, why should we settle for less?
However, the rumours linking Mourinho to replace Ferguson are mounting, much to my displeasure.
Fergie has again insisted that he won’t be going on forever at United, with plans to retire in two years, sparking discussion on who is to replace him.
“I won’t be doing a Bobby Robson and be a manager when I am 70,” he said today. “It is just knowing when to quit. Football is like a drug which is difficult to give up. My appetite and enthusiasm are as strong as ever. I love watching Manchester United. We have some terrific players who are only going to get better.”
In one of the tabloids today, ‘a Chelsea source’ has revealed that Mourinho had somewhat of an obsession with United, suggesting his recent comments about his plan for a return to the Premier League were with the intention of managing our club.
“Jose always made his love of United very clear, in fact he was obsessed with them and talked about being in charge of the biggest club in the world,” said the source. “He wanted to test himself in Italy when he left the Bridge, but it was obvious to most people he wanted to come back here with United to haunt us.”
Regardless, United are adamant that there are no leads on who is set to replace our manager.
“As we have said many times before, there has been no discussion about who will eventually succeed Sir Alex,” said a United spokesman yesterday.
I can only hope when those discussions do start, the only mention of Mourinho’s name will come to rule him out.
Man Utd News 24/7
I’m with you on this one – I want Mourinho as far away from Old Trafford as possible.
I’d rather watch Dave Lee Travis play Macbeth than have Mourinho as the new United manager. In fact, I’d rather Paul Calf became the new United manager than him.
if he took over at OT I guarantee everyone including you guys at RoM will love him within 2 months.
Please mourinho, stay the hell away from my club.
No to Mourinho.
His teams play shite football and are always full of dirty cheating scumbags, both Porto and Chelski would dive and put in awful challenges just to win at all costs.
Effective? Yes.
What I want to be watching at Old Trafford when I pay for my ticket? Definitely Not!
If not Mourinho? then who would you want? keane, bruce, oneil? Its all good ruling mourinho out, but who is better other than SAF?
no one is better than SAF ):
But i would like Roy Keane.. or someone else who loves this club and has some managerial experience
I want to watch football not 10 combine harvesters, Stay away you boring bastard — we don’t want you.
I reckon Querioz will be back at United…after the next world cup.. which is the same time when SAF retires…
And i reckon that Ole, and Giggsy will form the coaching team for Querioz..
I cannot see anyone else… apart from Martin O’Neil… i really dont think Keano will be the right man for the job… nor will Sparky… both too defensive… yes defensive !!
Its gonna be open to a lot of debate over the next 2 years… and pray to god that we get the right man in who can give us the continunuity that we require… coz i dont want happening to us what happened to the dippers etc over the years…
Failsworth Devil, spot on! It’ll be Carlos with Ole and Giggs. Mourinho? God forbid, those memories of him running down the line at OT with both middle fingers raised will not and should not be forgotten. Like Scott and others have said, the brand of football he would bring with him would not be in keeping with all that this club and its fans demand! NEVER!
Have to disagree with you all. Mourinho should be given a job at Old Trafford as soon as possible….
cleaning out the bogs with a fucking mop and bucket at the Stretty end.
Bringing his teams to avoid defeat against the best club in the world is the closest he should ever get to OT. I’d rather have Mike Bassett for our next manager.
Once an enemy always an enemy. I will go 4 Dong Fangzhuo instead of him.
I’m not as dead-set against TheMoaner/Maureen as some of you; however, I also believe that there a silent agreement has been put in place with Gill/SAF/CarlosQ/and Cristiano Ronaldo concerning “the succession”.
Call me a conspriacy theorist, but I can’t see anyone other than CarlosQ who has the expertise, experience, and knowledge of the current team and the future stars.
I also believe from the gleeful chortling coming from SAF that Carlos will be seen as a short-term successor and that the long-term guy will be TheBabyFacedAssassin.
SAF always speaks soooo highly about Ole-Gunnar’s smarts and analytical nous that it’s as if he is showing us his hand.
I cant believe that United fans would be so against Mourinho taking over at Old Trafford!?
I personaly cant think of anyone better to take over from Fergie. Name me another manager better for the job, who isnt going to be over awed by the expectation levels at United, and taking over from the most successfull British manager of all time?
The only objection I have, is of course the style of football, but I’m sure he can change that, and I actually thought during his first season at Chelsea they were quite entertaining, playing with 2 out and out wingers in Duff and Robben.
I have always liked Mourinho, the rivalry was a competitive rivalry, not a hatred. He can be a little OTT at times, but so what, hes a great character and hes funny, and if people are offended by him, then I suggest they get a sense of humour, because hes a wind up merchant and you people getting wound up by him is exactly what he wants.
Fergie and Mourinho have alot of respect for eachother, Fergie is the only manager that Mourinho looks up to, I have always liked him for that.
So I am all for Mourinho taking over at United in the future, where do I sign the petition!?
Honestly i agree with the above^^^ Lets look past all the arrogance and prickiness he put on while he was here and focus on what will be good for Man United…Mourinho has the experience and the attitude to deal with managing us. Of course we could have assistants like Ole or Queiroz who would make sure Mourinho stuck to the United way + with the players we have, i just can’t see Mourinho deciding to waste all that attacking talent and then playing some cantenaccio style of footie. When Fergie retires, i want someone who can slot in easily and not someone who would use our club as an experiment in managing high-profile clubs, United isn’t a club where someone like Keane can come and learn, we need someone ready-made. Only three people qualify: Hidnik, Lippi and Mourinho, i doubt the first will come(though i’d prefer him over Mourinho), Lippi is old and Mourinho seems like a good choice.
Failsworth: when Phelan was appointed as assistant, most people moaned about how he wasn’t good enough and all that, and now you really think Giggs will be good enough, just because he’s a United legend and is a really good player, doesn’t translate into good coaching skills.
Mike Phelan wasnt a united legend… nor was he a good player… nor is he a ooach that has an aura about him…
Giggs… would have that aura for any new kids coming through… he is the most decorated player in English Football History… he has been there, seen it done it.. the full monty… that is experiance you would want him your dressing room as a coach…
I think Querioz, is tactically very very clever… and his coaching network is one of the best in europe if not the world…
Ole has got good brains with the game.. SAF has always said that.. about him analysing matches when he was on the bench, noting weaknesses then exploiting them weaknesses when he came on as a sub..
I think if you had Querioz with his tact and contacts, Ole with his legend status, enthusiasm, likeability, and being blooded now for 2 years in the reserves (ps these lads in the reserves now will prob be first teamers in 2 years.. and what a coincidence, Ole might be asst).. to you get my drift.
And then you got Giggsy, who could prob go as Reserve Team coach.. he is already doin his badges..
Its called continunuity.. and thats what SAF has gone on about for years..
Mike Phelan, nor Maureenho aint the answer trust me.
Failsworth Devil: ” Mike Phelan, nor Maureenho aint the answer trust me”
I dont seem to remember anyone tipping Mike Phelan for the managers role, and all tho I respect your opinion, to say “trust me Mourinho isnt the answer” makes me question your football knowledge.
Mourinho would bring continued success to our club, he creates that (us against the world mentality) hes a born winner, a tactical genius, and settles for nothing less than the best.
Through the history of football, past legends of clubs who enjoyed great success as a player at there respective teams, have very rarely done well at their club as a manager, so I would warn against it!
This is reality, and I really cant think of any other manager in world football who could handle the expectation levels at United.
‘Test himself in Italy’? What a joke. The closest club to Inter in Italy is Juventus and even they aren’t up to much. Milan are useless and the rest are UEFA Cup bound. He’ll win the league and it won’t be much of a ‘test’.
And he definately won’t win the Champions League
Mark Hughes, Gordron Strachan and Martin O’Neill are good managers but they are not in José Mourinho’s league. Roy Keane is an average manager who managed to keep Sunderland up thanks to a Champions’ League team’s budget, not a newly-promoted side’s budget. I would like to see more of Queiroz’s Liverpool before I judge him.
While I can understand the reluctant nature that I have seen on this blog I can’t agree with it. Jose Mourinho is a brillant coach and a man who wants to win. AC Milan has so much talent they don’t know what to do with it all, Inter are a good team, Juventus showed Madrid the quality they can produce, and while other teams aren’t performing at a high level the team is only behind La Lige and the EPL. Jose is a good coach and has a brain for this game, his players usually love him, he is good at managing big ego’s, and if he wants to be here, I could think of no better replacement for Fergie. The players respect level won’t drop like it might with a replacement from within and while he is no Sir Alex, who is? Who out there would be a good replacement? Mourinho is young, full of confidence, knows the game well, knows the English game very well, and can win in Europe.
With all that said, his personality is not one I enjoy but if he was on my side, who knows. I would like to see Keano given a chance, he has a good side, that he has formed, and has them playing quality football. He would quickly garnish the respect of fans, would earn the respect of the players, and bring fire to the touch line. Cantona has expressed interest, but has no experience, yet I still find myself wondering what kind of beautiful football he would get us to play.
in any case I could not be happier with who we have. Fergie hopefully will give us till 2011 and call it quits before the 2011-2012 season ends. This will give the new coach all summer, with no international competitions to worry about, to get the team gelling and understanding his philosophy. As long as Fergie is alive, I don’t mind him being the coach. Many of you don’t live in the U.S.A. like I do but, Joe Paterno is 82 and still the coach of the 3rd best team in College football. Fergie will retire to his horses soon enough but he wants to be the man who catches Liverpool, as he was the man who got us close!
Nobody is as good as SAF, but Lippi, Capello and O’neill come close. Certainly not Mourinho, his team play boring football.
“boring football” = losing (or coming “first-last” like the RentBoyz of the last two years). Winning is great; winning with elan is better yet.
As was mentioned above, the first year that TheMoaner/Maureen was at Chel$ki – with Duff and Robben on the wings – they played fantastic, attacking football. Duff got hurt, Robben could never stay healthy and the emphasis switched to grind-it-out; and, yes, that was boring.
So, the jury is out about MaureenTheMoaner’s chosen style – but let’s not forget the belly-aching when UTD switched to 4-5-1. Memories can be short and selective; I think that given the wealth of attacking talent at Old Trafford you would see a go-for-the-jugular attack/attack/attack. Jose liked to crush his opponents; he’s never been much of a “sportsman” because for him winning-is-the-only-thing. And he gives great interviews.
I’d sooner see Capello than Mourinho. but Quieroz or Hughes are more likely, Sparky a bit less so as he took the job at Citeh. Keane would be my dark horse. If Arry can’t save Spurs, he’d be worth a look.
Problem is that you’re all thinking like fans (for obvious reasons) but the people making that decision aren’t fans. They’re people with hundreds of millions of pounds at stake and are certainly not going with a dream ticket of Ole, Giggsy and Keano. They cannot allow a manager to learn how to win because if we ever missout on Europe the finances dictate player sales and a Leeds-esque disaster. Old man Glazer et al can’t afford to finance United out of pocket while we languish midtable. They need to continue winning at all costs…including paint dryingly dull football. What do they care about the fans?!? If they cared about us, they wouldn’t have bought in in the first place.
To that end…without a proven “face of the club” manager like Fergie..who’s to say they don’t get more involved and start meddling. All hell breaks out then. Just look at Liverpool.
Why are we slagging off maureen so much?
Granted he was a t*at to us…hated him…
But those years they won the title, chelsea scored the most goals and conceeded the least…They had two flying wingers and were fun to watch…
We are not always pleasing on the eye either…one could argue chelsea played better football against barca than we did…
Maureen would be one of only a handful of coaches capable of taking over from Lord Fergie..
I think what we hate so much is not his style of football but the fact that his attitude to make headlines, getting publicity by talking shite…
mourinho is the best manager in the world.at united he will setup his permanent home in england.actually he will be the next sir alex ferguson.this man of GOD really is the best man for the united job. i cant wait to see this man join united
I liked Morinhio in his first year, with robben and duff. That was really the only year morinhio had control of his team. After that abram and others started meddling.
He would piss of scouse fans too which would be great.
i don’t understand why people talking about recent players like ole or keane to be our future manager. They have no bloody experience( keane – 2 years, ole- coach only?). Whats the matter with u guys, Giving support for the to be manager just because they are our heroes recently? Look at how know did SAF took to become a proven good or experience manager. I really gonna laugh at the names of giggsy, ole or keane as candidates. Bland stupid. Might as why get ronaldo as our manager. I rather pick jose over them. But my top choice will be Carlos , Mark hughes or Lippi. Sick and tired of hearing keane , ole or giggs. They can only be our manager in ten years time but not when fergie retired. Giggs and ole should not be convince towards managing for now. concentrate on coaching. Leave those stuff to the pros.
i don’t understand why people talking about recent players like ole or keane to be our future manager. They have no bloody experience( keane – 2 years, ole- coach only?). Whats the matter with u guys, Giving support for the to be manager just because they are our heroes recently? Look at how long did SAF took to become a proven good or experience manager. I really gonna laugh at the names of giggsy, ole or keane as candidates. Bland stupid. Might as why get ronaldo as our manager. I rather pick jose over them. But my top choice will be Carlos , Mark hughes or Lippi. Sick and tired of hearing keane , ole or giggs. They can only be our manager in ten years time but not when fergie retired. Giggs and ole should not be convince towards managing for now. concentrate on coaching. Leave those stuff to the pros.
Jose Mourinho would be the ideal manager for Manchester United after Sir Alex leaves. I honestly believe Sir Alex would give his blessing, Mourinho wouldnt be afraid of the big personalities within the dressing room, he’s a born winner and regardless of the money he had to sepnd at Chelsea he proved with Porto what he can win with limited money. When you you look at the Man Utd squad at present we’ve got tremendous ability and Mourinho could and would get them to play excititng football. When he managed Chelski he played with one up front and it did seem boring, but with Inter he’s playing two strikers Ibrahimovic and Adriano, and if you look at how he helped transform Adriano back into the player he can become, dont forget last season Inter tried to get rid of him for nothing.
Also when Chelsea won the league in 2005 they scored 82 goals and conceded 15, in 2007 we scored 83 and in 2008 we scored 80. Fair enough Chelsea won the league on 2006 scoring only 72 goals, but at least they were succesful and conceded very few as well as setting a four year home unbeaten record, and if we are honest they were robbed against the Scousers in Champs league. I think with the experience of Mourinho, the players he would have, plus the influence he would have on the portuguese and up and coming brazillians, and more importantly our Englsih players (Lampard, Terry and Cole havent looked the same since he left) Mourinho is a must for Man Utd when the great man calls time
ole is doing great for united second team,and i think he got the right skills for the job and if not i would say Roy keane..
This is a little bit short-sighted, Mourinho’s record is unquestionable. Porto won the champions league as well mate…I’m an avid united fan and when I heard this news I was a little bit sceptical but then I thought about it properly. Can you think of another manager who could possibly re-galvanise the united players after Ferguson’s departure or someone who could keep our portuguese-speaking contingent in place? possibly Queiroz but certainly not Keane or Hughes as much as I think they’re quality managers. His style of football is questioned but with Chelsea there was no tradition or winning mentality in place, United is a totally different team, brand and everything and I don’t think Mourinho would be stupid enough to impose his style of football on the players, but his stature in the game and character would certainly make our top players re-consider leaving when Ferguson retires.
Jake – you say Mourinho wouldn’t be stupid enough to impose his style of football on our players… but that is the only football he knows. With both Chelsea and Porto, their football was the same. How can you assume that he is capable of playing attacking, attractive football? He has made his name through dull, yet efficient, football. With an open cheque book this was still the football he prescribed.
I am curious. Why do you think he would be able to play football the United way?
because he couldn’t effectvely tell ronaldo, nani, da-silva and evra to not bomb forward…
Gudjohsen, Duff, Robben, Joe Cole… he made them play defensive minded football, why would it be any different with our attacking players?
You’ve highlighted what full backs do at United, support the attack. It is similar to how Arsenal play. You surely saw the transformation of Ashley Cole at Arsenal to Ashley Cole at Chelsea?
COURSE he could tell our players not to bomb forward.
Scott, fair enough you wouldnt like to see Mourinho take over, I can respect that, but your talking nonsense when you say he made Gudjohsen, Duff, Robben and Joe Cole play defensive minded. Duff and Robben litteraly tore teams apart during the 2004/05 season and for a defensive mided player as you like Gudjohnsen, he certainly managed to cause United plenty of problems when we played them, he always seemed to score against us, not bad for a player who was told to play defensively.
Manchester United are the biggest and most famous club in the history of English football, now were on the verge of becoming the most successfull club in English football history being just 1 title behind Liverpool. Do you really want to risk puting a novice in charge after Fergie retires just to prove a point, and then see United slowly fall away and possibly Liverpool stretch away again in terms of league titles? Mourinho would bring continued success to United, no doubt about it. I would love you to name me a better man for the job!?
Fergie would give his blessing for Mourinho to take over, thats good enough for me!
Gary – how can you say they ripped teams apart? Chelsea scored a 72 goals that season. That was a season when they were by far the best team in the league, with United and Arsenal being generally pretty crap. Of the 38 games they failed to score more than 1 goal on 18 occasions! Ripped teams apart? Lol do me a favour.
He criticised Joe Cole after he scored the winner against the dippers, sort of sums up Mourinho’s footballing philosophy.
no, no, no, no
I think either Sparky or Carlos.
Sparky has proven with Wales and Blackburn how good he is, and with experience with better players (Robinho) at City, he will quickly become a world class manager. Plus, hes a United legend.
Carlos knows our system, and now hes getting some managerial experience, who knows.
Mourinho’s teams play effective win at all costs generally crap football. Anyone remember the FA cup final????? Could you imagine the stunts Ronaldo and Nani would be pulling with him in charge?? They’d make Deco look like a model citizen.
Quiroz teams play ineffective lose at all costs generally crap football. See Real Madrid and Portugal. How those teams ever fail to score is beyond me…but Quiroz manages it. A regular Portugeese Steve Maclaren I’d say; Brilliant number 2, crap number 1.
Lastly some fear mongering. 1968 – European Champions…..iconic manager leaves 3 years later…1974 relegated. 2008 – European Champions…iconic manager leaving in 3 years… 2014 relegation????? Seems far fetched but think about it. A top 4 place isn’t guaranteed nowadays…all that money coming into City, maybe Newcastle/Spurs/Villa they will eventually break in. We’re in crazy debt. Fergie leaves…the Glazers bring in the wrong manager, start meddling…we missout on Europe…players get sold to service that debt…we finish midtable…credit crunch means no refinancing the debt…administration beckons and before we know it…dust off the old travel plans to Elland Road. Sounds extreme but you’d have said the same things when Leeds were one good game away from the Champions League final.
I think Sir Alex Ferguson already knows who will take charge when he retires. The man always looks the future and our future will be with Quiroz. What is the average number of years a coach spends on a national team ? Ole will be assistant manager, then in time, most likely in many years time, he will be Manager.
CQ just has no proven track record, I would be very nervous if he was apointed.
You must have a short memory Scott. Robben tore teams to shreds that season, he never quite recaptured that form, but he had licence to thrill and he went out with only attacking intensions.
Scott you didnt answer my question, name me a better man for the job?
In two years time when Fergie is set to retire, then is the time to think about who will replace him. Who knows what will happen in those two years. Right now, I’d fancy CQ as the man, but things can change in two years.
I don’t have a short term memory. I don’t remember Chelsea ever playing entertaining, attacking football… Robben or no Robben. I don’t remember Porto playing entertaining, attacking football.
As far as I see it, we would have two options where Mourinho is concerned. 1. Play dull, defensive football whilst he sells off all our best attacking players and buys a shit load of central midfielders 2. Hope that he can play entertaining football… something he has NEVER shown himself to be capable of.
@Ste: Sparky??? But everyone here is against Mourinho for his defensive style, now you want Hughes? He wasn’t exactly entertaining with Blackburn and its the same with City so far, except Robinho adds a little flair.
@Scott: Just what has CQ done so far to convince you he’s right for us??? And don’t tell me about the double last year, cus Fergie did the treble and you can’t tell me McClaren helped with that. None of us know what happens behind the scenes, so i have a hard time believing all the, “he was the one responsible for our tactical play” mantra that everyone seems to be going on and on about.
I love we love our good football and stuff but we could do alot worse than Jose being at our club, I wouldn’t be gutted to see him here nor would I be elated but i’m sure he could get our club carrying on the same style and winning too, right now with our club debt, fancy football isn’t important really, it’s the success and the money that comes with it.
Mourinho’s chelski did play some good football (not always but on certain occasions), the games against were barcelona were good you have to admit. Having said that, playing good football once in a blue moon isn’t what i want from United. The United way is to win, win and win but winning is nothing without outplaying the opposition.. we have to stay true to our history and traditions set by the Busby babes and the likes of Bestie, Charlton, Whiteside, Cantona et al.
The only football manager I can see doing that successfully is Martin O’neill. He has built a beautiful team at Villa and I definitely think that team could kick the scouse shits out of the champions league places. A team made up of young, up-and-coming players with two genuine wide players probing the spaces between centre-halves and fullbacks? That sounds like O’neill gets our philosophy. Given the resources and pulling power of United, he could build on Fergie’s success. Yeah, definitely for me, O’neill is the front-runner now.
Fair enough, Mourinho won the Champions League with Porto, which is a great achievement. What he did with Chelsea, was very nearly outdone by Avram Grant of all people, a ‘manager’ with no great experience at this level.
I think I would do pretty well as a manager if I had the money and players that Roman’s Chelsea have.
I also like Martin O’neill, I would like to see CQ come back though and in 3 years or so, get Ole in the AM seat.
Sparky will be the next Chelsea manager. Why are so many people thinking he will come back to United? He has nailed his colours to the mast on plenty of occassions. He’s a blue, and always will be. A legend in a United shirt, but his time at United is over.
Mourinho may have a good track record when it comes to success, but his arrogance is likely to become bigger than United if he ever came here.
I agree with the folks that have said his style of football is not United in any way. It’s almost anti-United.
There are not many managers that are upto the United job….forget Hughes (for the reasons above) and Keane (Doesn’t have the man management skills necessary).
Lippi is the man. Or perhaps a CQ (although it remains to be seen what success he will have with Portugal) Ole and Giggs team.
Redmist: How can you say dismiss Mourinho becuase of the style of football, then say Lippi is the man? Am I missing something, Lippi’s teams have been mechanical aswel, they hardly played entertaining football either!