My wife very rarely shouts to me from another room.
The last time Jan shouted from downstairs was in 2004 when she yelled, “Myles ! A Russian’s bought Chelsea!”
That shout, at about 9.30 pm, came at exactly the same moment as the phone in my office rang and Gary Jacob said, “A Russian billionaire’s bought Chelsea!”
I’ll never forget the Abramovich arrival because that was news. To me, most of what we see and read is NOT news. It’s drivel, it’s stuff we know already. There is very little news, really. And there is no big news, no exciting news.
But Abramovich was big news, something that triggered millions of blasphemous remarks across the land.
This morning was a day like any other as I stumbled into my office at 7.30 a.m and switched on my computer and eased my plates of meat into black suede slippers and wondered if my headline should be SAGNA SUPERB AS SEVILLE THRASHED and then my reverie was interrupted by that urgent shout of, “Myles ! Mourinho’s gone !”
So I went down and saw BREAKING NEWS : Jose Mourinho and Chelsea have parted by mutual consent.
Then I went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea and…she shouted at me again ! Jan sounded as if she was annoyed that I had left the room.
“Myles ! Ruck with John Terry !”
That was eight hours ago.
What do I think of Mourinho’s exit ?
Well, I knew something would happen with Avram Grant joining the club.
And when Rosenborg scored, Roman Abramovich was laughing with his new girlfriend. It looked like : I can sack him now.
Mourinho texted three senior players (John Terry, Lampard and Drogba ) at 9.30 last night, wishing them luck in their future careers. Frank was sitting next to Sun reporter Ian McGarry at 9.30 at the DVD launch party and showed him the text.So McGarry phoned his office.
Jose Mourinho is the highest-paid coach in world football. Sources in Portugal today suggested a £25 million pay-off has been agreed. My guess is that the Special One will be a special pundit for the rest of this season and then join a club in Spain or Italy, and in 2009 that club will play Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea or Manchester United.
I’m not sad to see Mourinho go because he was so spiteful, so paranoid in the way he behaved in Barcelona and Reading, and in the way he tried to intimidate referees and fourth officials. His lack of sportsmanship was nauseating, offensive, way beyond any of the angry tantrums I’ve ever seen in the 40 years I’ve been meeting football managers and writing about them.
What will happen to Chelsea now? Is it the Drogba camp versus the Shevchenko -Ballack camp from now on ? The Drogba camp includes Lamps, JT and Carvalho.
Next Sunday will give us a clue : the Man Utd game.
Back in 2000, Ken Bates sacked Luca Vialli in the first week of the Champions League, maybe because Bates could not bear the thought of playing a Uefa Cup tie against St Gallen.
I’m told that Claudio Ranieri’s first game in charge of Chelsea was Manchester United at Old Trafford on September 23, 2000. That was a 3-3 draw.
Avram Grant’s first game is Manchester United at Old Trafford on September 23, 2007.
Seven years is a long time in football, it’s true. But Arsene Wenger’s done eleven at Arsenal and he seems happy enough.
Funny old circus, English football. If I’ve heard the phrase “He was a breath of fresh air” once on TV today, I’ve heard it 250 times.That phrase is hopelessly cliched and utterly, utterly inappropriate.
Jose Mourinho was many things but he was never a breath of fresh air. He was charismatic, cocky, amusing, different, challenging, and lots of fun as long as things were going his way. When he lost a game or a goal, he became nastier than any manager I’ve ever seen.
BTW, I’m reliably informed that Mourinho WAS sacked. He was comprehensively sacked, whatever they say on Chelseadotcom.
Having noted all of the above, I also have to say that Jose Mourinho does so many things well that he will be very hard to replace. There is a shortage of coaches who can do everything he can do.
Chelsea will regret this decision and the timing of it.