Special Character my arse. Resigned from Benfica because he hated the chairman, left Chelsea because he didnt agree with the chairman, now looks shaky at Inter as he doesnt agree with the chairman.
Why would the Glazers hire some cnut they know will cause friction?
Knowing the Glazers, they want someone who can win and continue the revenue coming in. Mourinhos is the only choice in that regard. No room for reckless experimentation with former players.
Knowing the Glazers, they want someone who can win and continue the revenue coming in. Mourinhos is the only choice in that regard. No room for reckless experimentation with former players.
Oh you know the Glazers do you? Wow, what's Uncle Malcolm and Cousins Avi, Joel and Brian really like then?
Behave Raoul, every business whether it be a football club or a stockbroking company wants a manager who will deliver, of course they do, but none will intentionally hire an arsehole they know they may very will have to fire before they hire them...
I know them to the extent of their dealings in the States. Their NFL team was famously underachieving until they brought in a known, young Head Coach who led them to the Super Bowl. They understand the value of winning as it relates to the bottom line - Revenue.
The United board will NOT bring in Mourinho if they suspect he may leave himself or be sacked by them within a few years as is consistent with his previous roles in Portugal and England and possibly Inter as he looks like he may be looking at leaving Italy to return to a Premiership club.
The United board, many of whom were seated in the late 1980's have extreme patience and vision and are willing to forego a season or two to lay foundations of an empire rather than go for a quick fix. This is evident when Ferguson paid money for Rooney in 2004. We had Ruud, had bought Saha earlier that year and just bought Alan Smith and despite his talent, many questioned why we were buying Rooney as well rather than a top class midfielder we so desperately needed that year but Fergie knew in Rooney, we'd have a player who would be at the cornerstone of our team for a decade or more and effectively blew our budget for the whole season on the one player, meaning we played with a skeletal midfield that year and the year after, employing Giggs and O'Shea for the majority of it.
Despite Ferguson's massive success, attributes must also be given to our board for their support and patience whereas many other clubs would have been pressing for success. Not us. We make massive amounts of revenue regardless of a Premiership-less season.
The board will be looking at the continuance of our dominance over a generation as Ferguson has done, not a quick fix which may result in instability if the manager quits or is sacked due to his impudence. With new managers come new players, when managers leave, so do players. United could not allow that sort of revolving door policy that we see at Spurs and other clubs due to their high numbers of staff turnover when in reality if the Spurs board were more patient, we would see Spurs challenging a lot more than they have as they have had the staff and resources to do so, just shit chairmen and board backing......
Which would seemingly suggest that a young 40something manager who has already won the league and CL should be the number one choice - not some former player who despite floundering in mediocrity in contrast to Mourinho's accomplishments, should be given the biggest managerial job in world football.
Unfortunately we need a special character, a winner to take over from Ferguson directly. Someone we know won't completely bottle the job taking over the greatest manager in British history. Someone like Mourinho is capable of handling that pressure, is someone like Blanc really?
Again Raoul, not one who will be a massive liability if they walk or are pushed within a few seasons for being a twat.
He left Chelsea (or was pushed) because he continuously clashed with the board and/or chairmen over various issues and albeit the United board are mor epatient than others, they will still not stand for his shite.
He will also find United, big spenders they may be, are not as easy to splash the cash as Inter and certainly not as Chelsea were in his tenure. He would inherit a great squad of course but he will want to make his own obvious tweaks and additions, possibly selling some of our squad which may cause disruption. Remember he spent hundreds of millions then argued when Roman wouldn't give him any cash in the January window one year, he went public on it. The United board don't need that.....
In retrospect, given Abromovich's managerial spasciticy combined with their failure to win the league, seems to suggest that Mourihno was correct in leaving when he did. No manager should have to deal with that sort of puppet string interference.
Ole - why is he a candidate at all?
It's obvious Mourinho was burnt out in the Chelsea job, especially with an owner forcing the likes of Ballack and Shevchenko on him (not Mourinho's preferred choices) and other ridiculous pressures. It reminded me of the Jerry Jones vs Jimmy Johnson saga the Dallas Cowboys endured in the mid 90s. Two successful, ego driven men and the owner always has the final say.
Which also brings to mind Scoreboard Red's comments above about the board. If the Glazers want Mourinho they can always overrule any decision the board recommends. They are no longer a PLC so the ownership has the final say if they desire.
Mourinho represents a few things. One, he's a marketing gold mine. Two, he's a proven winner regardless of PM's attempt to downplay his achievements. And finally, where as any other manager would feel so much pressure to follow in SAF's footsteps, Mourinho would relish in it. Even if he were to fail or get bored, the next manager would not be following in SAF's footsteps and would be given a fresh slate. It's a win/win IMO.
If Mourinho failed that would not be a win scenario.
Mourinho doesn't seem to know how to fail though. Still hasn't lost a home league game in about half a decade. His sides' home form alone is enough to keep them always in the hunt for titles.
Ole - why is he a candidate at all?
Well not in the silverware and revenue department it would not be but for the next manager it is since he would not be following SAF. He would be following a manager that failed or left for whatever reasons.
There's a good chance Mourinho might stick around for 5-10 years and win lots of trophies which then presents the next manager a headache to emulate two consecutive greats.
There's also a possibility Mourinho so loves the job (and himself in it) that he remains at OT for over a decade perhaps two.
Or he could simply be a nomad manager always aiming to achieve success elsewhere, so he sticks around for less than 6 years, turns the job over to someone else who would have big shoes to fill, but not SAF's shoes.
I honestly don't get this "bottling" thing. I've never seen a manager bottle it before. I think playing as a professional footballer and captaining his side will have Blanc in good stead. I mean yeah, if it was some no-one I'd be worried, but Blanc will have to deal with intense pressure now, sure it will intensify at United, but I don't think he'd crack up.
Portugal was a one-horse race only because he took a decent side and made them all-conquering Champions. The Porto team he inherited finished third, and he didn't have all that much money to spend. So he signed two players on the cheap from his old club Uniao de Leira (Nuno Valente and Derlei), picked up some players Benfica had discarded (Edgaras Jankauskas and Maniche), recalled a player from loan (Jorge Costa), and spent modestly on Paulo Ferreira and Pedro Emanuel.He's dominated a one horse race in Portugal...
He's a character but I still have doubts about him as a manager.
He certainly is a top coach, but at Chelsea, he wasnt always great and at Inter, he is doing well but its not like his team are the absolute high flyers.His trophy haul is impressive, his players love and respect him.
I dont see what's not to like.
I think people are exagerrating how bland his football was.
There is no one else better equipped to take over united better than Mourinho.
Roy Keane - Sunderland last year.
Paul Ince - Blackburn last year. Job was too big for him at the time.
Number of Newcastle managers.
List is endless.
The United job after Fergie will probably be the biggest football job you could get. Plenty of ways to bottle that opportunity.
The real question should be which former players turned managers haven't bottled it or aren't floundering their clubs in mid table obscurity, and aren't Mark Hughes. If anyone is left standing then you have the beginnings of an argument.
Bruce - No way, not good enough
Why? Because he hasn't won anything? He couldn't have at the clubs he's been at, unless it was a miracle.
Keane - Not good enough, yet. Showed some promise with Sunderland, but ended badly.
Bruce has shown more promise with Sunderland than Keane ever did. So why is he with more of a shot than Bruce. I just don't get people's logic behind it.
Hiddink - World renown, makes teams punch above their weight. Tons of experience including CL and Premiership. Great tactician.
PSV were a big club when he took over, no punching above his weight there. Neither with Valencia or Real Madrid or Chelsea. In fact the only club where he would have been punching above his weight (Real Betis) he was sacked from! Yes his international record is good, but South Korea got a lot of favours in that world cup. Australia have always been a decent team just unlucky they had to play one of the big boys from South America to qualify. A good tactician yes, but he was given breaks early on with big jobs and did well which is a luxury a lot of the other managers in the list haven't had.
Can someone whip out a comprehensive list of Jose's transfers? All of them. That's my biggest worry with him.
At Chelsea
2007
Juliano Belletti £3.7m MIXED BAG
Florent Malouda £13.5m GOOD
Tal Ben Haim Free POOR
Claudio Pizarro Free POOR
Steve Sidwell Free POOR
2006
Ashley Cole £5m GOOD
Khalid Boulahrouz £7m POOR
John Mikel Obi £16m MIXED BAG
Ben Sahar Hapoel £320,000 KID
Andrei Shevchenko £30.8m POOR
Salomon Kalou £8m GOOD
Michael Ballack Free GOOD
2005
Michael Essien £24.4m GOOD
Shaun Wright-Phillips £21m MIXED BAG
Lassana Diarra £1m GOOD
Scott Sinclair £160,000 KID
Asier Del Horno £8m POOR
Jiri Jarosik £4.83m POOR
Ricardo Carvalho £19.85m GOOD
Didier Drogba £24m GOOD
Tiago £8m POOR
Mateja Kezman £5m POOR
Paulo Ferreira £13.2m MIXED BAG
Arjen Robben £12m GOOD
On the whole he did pretty well when he spent money, except for Shevchenko, which almost certainly wasn't his signing. Most of his poor signings were bosmans or <£10m.
