Goodbye And Good Riddance Mourinho
By Jeff Winter
Date: 20/9/2007
So the Special One has finally gone and is currently negotiating a
multi million pound payoff from his ex-employers to soften the
blow.
Don't get me wrong; if he had been manager of my club and had won
two Premierships and a handful of cups in three years, I would be
gutted to lose him.
The media have lost a good soundbite man as well. He was always
controversial and good for a sensational quote or two.
I personally though am glad to see the back of him and I think many
referees would agree with that. We all know refs are there as an
easy scapegoat for managers when things don't go well but this guy
took ref baiting to a new level.
Fergie and Wenger have had their moments with their mind games but
the Special One took it to new depths.
Referees have been criticized for lack of ability, getting big
decisions wrong, not understanding the game and a million and one
other things, but never has their integrity been questioned.
Mourinho in the three plus seasons he was at the Bridge played that
line over and over again. I recall a Carling Cup tie at the Bridge
when he accused Neale Barry of bias towards Manchester United. In
actual fact the ref had given more decisions in the game against
Manchester United than against Chelsea.
The same season he castigated Rob Styles (ironically) for not
giving Chelsea a penalty for a foul on Droghba, suggesting again
that the refs favoured Manchester United.
We saw the much publicized spats with Barcelona and more ref
accusations which led to a top official quitting the game after
personal remarks and suggestions about him led to problems for his
family.
I could go on and on. Players like Droghba and Robben dived their
way around the country yet the manager castigated players like
Messi who he claimed cheated against Chelsea.
I noticed a change in the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard and
Joe Cole, all excellent pros and good players to referee. They now
led the charge in harassing officials and querying every
decision.
He brought bad sportsmanship into the Premiership to a level we had
not previously witnessed and now it has become the norm.
So Jose, it was eventful, but now the eggs have finally cracked,
the yoke is on you.