Jose Mario dos Santos Mourinho at just 51 years of age, is arguably football’s greatest tactician. With successful stints in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain, he is one of the most decorated managers of all time.
He returned to English football and Chelsea last year after leaving in 2008, when he had a falling out with the club’s management.
With a season under his belt already and a second season underway in spectacular fashion for the Blues, there’s talk of a long term relationship between Chelsea and the Portuguese manager.
In an interview with the English Standard, Chelsea’s C.E.O Ron Gourlay expressed his desire to have Jose as Chelsea’s manager for many years to come;
“My hope is that Mourinho will stay for ten years. Having the security of Jose is great for me- he knows the club, knows me. Last time he was here, I was the Chief operating officer and we worked well together.”
“Jose can deal with the media in a different way from some of the other managers we’ve had. He takes the pressure not only from the players, but also from the club. He’s allows us to manage and me in particular to drive the club forward.”
The feeling has always been mutual, as Jose also expressed similar sentiments in an interview he gave to the Guardian last December, were he revealed that contrary to reports that linked him to the Manchester United job, he took a pay cut to join Chelsea and hopes to stay for 12years. 2 years more than Chelsea’s C.E.O had hoped for;
“I left Madrid because I wanted to, not because they wanted me to. I had other clubs in other countries where it would be easier to go and start winning trophies right away. If I was here for financial reasons, I wouldn’t be here earning less money than I had at Madrid, where I had three more years on my contract.”
“Realistically, I hope at the end of those four years we sit, analyze the situation and that will be the point where we both- club and me, are happy to carry on or separate. But I would like to stay for say, 12years. I’m 51 next month. I’d stay 12years and then go to a World Cup with a national team.”
It is clear that the Club and manager are in agreement about what they want. Chelsea has been through so many managerial changes since Roman Abrahmovic took over.
The list is endless, with world class managers such as Carlo Ancelotti, Rafa Benitez, Claudio Raneri, Andre Villas Boas and Guss Hiddink amongst the coaches they have parted ways with.
Jose Mourinho has also been a bit of a journey man with stints at 4 different countries and 6 different teams.
A bit of stability is needed for any club as the merits it can bring, are endless. It seems Jose agrees;
“The best way to run a club is to do it with stability. For the players, if you want to help them grow up, you do that much better with stability, ideas, philosophy, model of play, style of leadership; this all comes from stability at the highest level, with owners and board and, after that, the manager.” -Jose Mourinho, Guardian interview.
Stability at the London club is what the fans have been calling for, and it seems they are finally going to get their wish.
Furthermore, no one is seriously going to complain about seeing the entertaining Jose Mourinho dazzle us with his charisma for years to come.
