Why The Happy One's second coming will be good for Chelsea

Quick to remind you! It was 6 trophies last time

They say "never go back" in life - and especially in football. But it's a maxim far from Jose Mourinho's thinking as he embarks on a new four-year contract at Stamford Bridge.

And Kevin Hatchard has four reasons why Mourinho's return will be successful like before.

1 – Mourinho is one of the most successful managers of his generation. Mourinho’s critics are enjoying beating him with a Real Madrid-branded stick, but it says a lot for his glittering CV that his time in the Spanish capital is being derided by many as a failure. In the shape of Leo Messi-inspired Barcelona, he was up against arguably one of the greatest teams of all time. Despite this calibre of opposition he won the La Liga title (setting a points record of 100 in the process) and the Copa del Rey (Real’s first success in the competition for nearly two decades). 

Mourinho, Moyes & Pellegrini: the new men at the top

Much has been made of Real’s failure to win the Champions League under Mourinho, but Los Merengues reached the semi-finals in each of his three seasons. In the six seasons that preceded Mourinho’s tenure, Real failed to progress beyond the last 16.

Mourinho’s La Liga title win means he has now won domestic championships in four different leagues, and three of those competitions (Serie A, Premier League, La Liga) are widely regarded as elite. The last time Mourinho failed to deliver at least one league title during a spell at a club was when he was at Uniao de Leiria, and in fairness I don’t think even the most ardent Leiria fan expects to be cheering their boys to title glory any time soon.

Sir Alex Ferguson has quite rightly been lauded for his magnificent, trophy-laden career, but it’s worth considering that Mourinho has delivered the same number of Champions League/European Cup wins in 13 years as Fergie did in more than double that time. To further enhance that achievement, Mourinho has reached the pinnacle of European football with two different clubs, and in the space of two seasons he won both the UEFA Cup and the Champions League with Porto.

Three European trophies, seven league titles and six domestic cups – Mourinho’s a winner, it’s as simple as that.

2 – Chelsea have one of the strongest squads in Europe, and the resources to make it stronger. Mourinho will inherit an outstanding squad that has won major European trophies in each of the past two seasons, and the £18million capture of German international forward Andre Schurrle shows that Blues owner Roman

Twice a Premier League champion, 2004 to 2007

 is willing to invest in the squad further.

Petr Cech remains one of the most reliable keepers in the Premier League, while promising Belgian stopper Thibault Courtois is set to accrue a third consecutive season of experience whilst on loan at Atletico Madrid. As a unit Chelsea’s defence was far from convincing last season, but the individual players are talented. Ashley Cole and Cesar Azpilicueta are both excellent attacking full-backs, while Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic are solid defenders, although perhaps not a solid partnership.

Perhaps Mourinho’s biggest conundrum lies in central midfield. Frank Lampard earned a new contract with a magnificent, record-breaking season. He may be a first-team regular – not because he’s a trusted lieutenant of Mourinho, but because he smashed in 15 Premier League goals last season. David Luiz put in some stirring, all-action displays at the heart of Chelsea’s midfield last term – he broke up play, started attacks and scored some spectacular goals. Luiz is a far better proposition in midfield than he is at centre-back, where his lapses of concentration can be more easily punished. That said, reports suggest Mourinho is not a fan of the extravagantly coiffeured Brazilian, and he may be a high-profile departure.

If Mourinho adopts a 4-2-3-1 formation, he is spoilt for choice in the attacking midfield department. When Mourinho holds the morning assembly, they’ll be the group with their hands up most insistently, desperately trying to catch the teacher’s attention. If Mourinho sticks with what he’s got, Juan Mata (12 PL goals and 12 assists last season), Oscar (4 PL goals, 5 assists), Eden Hazard (9 PL goals, 11 assists) and Ramires (5 PL goals) are all in the mix, with Schurrle, Victor Moses and the returning Kevin De Bruyne all keen to make their mark. Mourinho says young Belgian international De Bruyne is ready to play for Chelsea, and after an outstanding loan spell at Werder Bremen (9 Bundesliga goals, 10 assists), it’s hard to disagree.

On the subject of Belgians who’ve had excellent seasons out on loan (what a link - this stuff isn’t just thrown together, you know), Romelu Lukaku’s in contention for a striking spot after excelling at West Brom. The former Anderlecht man showcased his impressive mix of pace, power and composure, scoring 17 Premier League goals. At Chelsea (Didier Drogba) and Inter (Diego Milito) Mourinho used powerful target-men, and I see no reason why Lukaku can’t fill that role. With Fernando Torres and Demba Ba also in contention, and a big-money signing a near-certainty, Chelsea won’t be short of firepower.

3 – The fans are on board from the start. When Rafa Benitez was appointed as Chelsea boss midway through last season, sales of plain paper and marker pens went through the roof in the West London area. Benitez was greeted by a barrage of crudely penned banners and signs, displaying displeasure at his arrival. Despite such needless vitriol, Benitez went on to secure a top-four finish and a major European trophy, but the poisonous atmosphere at some home games hardly helped the team’s performances. Many of Chelsea’s best displays under Benitez came away from Stamford Bridge, and he won just one of his first five PL home games. Conversely, Mourinho will be accorded messianic status at Stamford Bridge, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Chelsea’s home record significantly improve.

4 – Mourinho has a proven track record in English football. In his first two seasons in England, Mourinho won two Premier League titles, racking up a club-record 29 top-flight wins in each campaign. In that first season Chelsea broke the Premier League points record, collecting a gigantic 95. In his three full seasons in England, Mourinho also won two League Cups and an FA Cup.

To conclude, Mourinho says he’s willing to see out his four-year contract at Stamford Bridge, and is even happy to stay beyond that. His career path to date suggests he won’t necessarily stay in West London for that long, regardless of his level of success. He might not be there for a long time, but it seems to me that Chelsea fans are in for a good time.

Do you agree with Kevin? Drop us a comment now.

Jose's Bridge too far?

Jose's Real time represented his first career crisis

The old football maxim, Never Go Back springs to mind. Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool? Kevin Keegan at Newcastle, Pamela Anderson at Baywatch. Careers go south quickly, you know!

On the face of it, Jose's second coming looks to be a great return. He was the man who made Fergie buckle at Manchester United with two successive Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups.

But I say, Jose II of Chelsea has found "any port in a storm".

Overlooked for the jobs at Old Trafford, Manchester City, Bayern Munich – and firmly shown the "mutual consent door" at the Bernabeu, Mourinho's cultivated a reputation for itinerance in an era of continuity.

It's only Chelsea that suited Mourinho. A marriage of convenience in a less than ideal world, some say. There was no other elite club for him. 

Respected for his track record? undoubtedly. But gazed on lovingly from the lofty heights of the boardroom? Not so much.

Young Jose could do no wrong

The Special One's glister is tarnished. Without a trophy in his last season at Madrid and having fallen out with senior players and media too, this isn’t the Mourinho who stormed into the Bridge nine years ago having won the Champions League with Porto.

And one of the biggest names in football agrees.

“Mourinho will never win a prize again,” Johann Cruyff told the Sun. “I think that because of the way he acted in Madrid. He blamed everyone and everybody when something went wrong in Madrid.

“And he is playing games with people who are working there. Mourinho himself played an unbelievably negative part in his Madrid years. First he moved out general manager Jorge Valdano and later he did the same with director of football Zinedine Zidane.

“And in the end he dropped Iker Casillas, the captain of the Spanish national team.

“This behaviour does not work in football, it only works in paralysing the dressing room. That’s why it didn’t work out in the end in Madrid and that’s why I think Mourinho will not succeed any more.”

Jose was famed for his thorough tactics at Chelsea and Inter and instilled a belief in his players that it was impossible to concede goals.

But he let Robert Lewandowski score four against his Real defence in the Champions League semi this season. Young Jose wouldn’t have let that happen.

Young Jose was fired up to prove everyone wrong. But midlife Jose is coasting now and his arrival at the Bridge is a massive payday based on his decade of decoration - not his masterplan for the years ahead.

But the 50-year-old believes he has plenty of gas in the tank, "I feel the people at Chelsea love me and in life you have to look for that".

The meaningful love he needs is from Roman Abramovich. Five-and-a-half years ago, Roman lavished millions on Jose to get him out of the door. Now, after a parade of the world's greatest managers in the Stamford Bridge dugout, Jose suddenly fits the bill again.

And if he can engender a togetherness absent in Madrid, Jose may prove his detractors wrong with a very good squad that he's inherited.

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Football is so Real in Madrid.

Galatasary know how to party

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O Lord, may I always feel the enthusiasm for a new footballing experience, however many games and grounds I go to.

I have been pre and post-Taylor in the Premier League and Division 1, seen iconic moments in a World Cup Final, Champions League and European Championship Finals, but my trip to the Bernabeu for the Champions League quarter-final between Real and Galatasaray shows me there is still more to experience.

Procuring a ticket from a hotel concierge the evening before (at near face value) is a lottery. Where would I end up in the ground? how many flights of stairs would I have to climb in this tower of power?

So imagine my pleasure when ´Fila 001´ meant ´Row 1´. Contra to my fears, I climbed downwards, not upwards - to the front row in the rather amusingly called ´Vomitorio´ seats.

Real fans at the other end. Loud and proud

I settled myself in front of the snappers and unsmiling stewards facing away pitchside and pondered, why on earth they´d want such a joyless job outnumbered by such passion?

And another thing: while Arsenal and Wembley and doubtless others proudly, corporately proclaim they´re non-smoking stadia, there´s none of that bullshit here. It´s outside.. so smoke! Even some of the stewards took a sly drag.

I actually own these images! Cool!

Arriving 45 minutes to kickoff, I was metres away from the huddle of Madrid superstars warming up, sprinting, stretching and taking shots at the keeper. Watching Cristiano Ronaldo sprint from a standing start is to watch an athlete with few peers.

To have a job where you´re required to be as agile as you can be, already bestowed with God given talents must be uplifting.

The game promised everything. Fatih Terim, the Galatasaray boss urged his players to leave the Bernabeu with at least a fighting chance of winning the tie at the famously hellish cauldron of Istanbul.

And why not show that ambition? For this was undoubtedly the highest quality, most international team ever to have emerged from Istanbul. Signing Sneijder was a coup, Drogba, a reigning and matchwinning European Champion leading the line with homegrown joint-topscorer Yilmaz. Gala could dare to dream.

But then there was Real. They may be about to relinquish the league title in a lacklustre domestic campaign infuriating Jose Mourinho, but in the Champions League, there´s little doubt they´re potential winners.

Cristiano is twice the player he was leaving Fergie´s tutelage at United. Watching him perform at this exceptionally high level week-in week-out is to marvel at his fitness, consistency and bravery.

But Real have an abundance of talent and don't need Ronaldo as the focal point in the final third. There's goals throughout the team and even on the bench.

Unfortunately for Gala, Real´s opener came too early to catch their breath. Ronaldo´s exquisite left-footed chip over the advancing keeper from Ozil´s pass put them ahead.

His muted "calm down" celebration says everything about his state of mind at 28. Watching Cristiano at the Bernabeu is to watch a man in control of himself. A mature leader and goalscorer.

The papers can talk all they want. He´s not leaving even if Jose is. His career at Real is slowly etching itself into the club´s illustrious Hall Of Fame. Winning the big one would certainly escalate him to Di Stefano, Puskas and Zidane sainthood.

2-0 Benzema must have been morale-crushing for the Turks. The cross was too high for Ronnie, but spare man Karim rustled it home at the far stick.

And any lingering hopes the tie could be salvaged back in Istanbul were extinguished by the third from sub Higuain from another routinely accurate free-kick by Xabi Alonso.

Alonso's setpieces are guided missiles: his free kicks win games. He's rested in lesser La Liga as a persistent groin injury blights the autumn of his career. No matter. He's exceptional.

And Essien may no longer be world-class since his layoff woes but venturing forward, reading the game and always looking for the probing pass still marks him out. He was Chelsea´s lynchpin in the Mourinho years and he´s still a top player.

Galatasaray can point to a terrible refereeing blunder which if the man in the middle had called it right, may have wrought them a priceless away goal.

Instead, Yilmaz ended in the book for diving when actually he´d been stamped on in the penalty area by Ramos. Harsh treatment indeed but few would argue with the result as Galatasaray lacked Madrid's mobility.

I was so moved by the professionalism and intensity of Madrid's play and Galatasaray's persistent attempt at shape despite adversity that the Champions League without English clubs now is a better competition for it.
Despite running away with the Premier League, Manchester United are at best the ninth team in Europe and in my opinion, Galatasaray would have had enough to beat them here.

We have a Little Englander view of Hispanics as prima donnas and cheats, but that's to ignore their inherent characteristics of togetherness, toughness, belligerence and style.

Drive down the road from the airport to the Bernabeu and know Real Madrid is a consequence of a city which is just as professional.

By royal patronage since the 1920´s and not for sale to any fit and proper person. More than any other, Real Madrid know who they are - and they wear the emperor´s clothes with panache.

soccermongery@jonnygould.com

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Pep talk on Premier League was a Bayern bluff

Pep Guardiola’s near-theatrical “I want to manage in the Premier League” gush turned out to be the most elaborate "come and get me plea" in the electronic media age.

Pep flirted with England's elite - then signed for Bayern!

The former Barcelona boss, on sabbatical after stepping down at Camp Nou last season said, "As a player I couldn't realise my dream to play in England. But I hope in the future, I have a challenge to be a coach or a manager there."

He added: "It is unique to play in that league. I want to feel the supporters, the environment, the media and the style of the players and everything.

But in the very same day as those words were trumpeted through press and social media, Guardiola agreed terms with German giants, Bayern Munich. So much for feeling the English game then.

Pep guided the Catalan giants to an incredible haul of 14 trophies in four seasons. Auf wiedersehen, Pep!

Then again, Bayern's a prudent and sober choice for someone of Pep's experience and calibre because they resemble his old club, Barcelona in many ways:

Bayern is 82% owned by the fans in a setup similar to that of the Catalan giants and like Barca, they're one of the big two clubs at home.

They also have an enviable youth policy and a desire from the cream of the crop to play for them. It's a hunger shared by just a handful of the world's top clubs.

They're also perennial and viable Champions League performers and sign players from other domestic clubs.

All of these similarities will aid Guardiola to repeat his stellar achievements in the Bundesliga and beyond.

He's spent time away with his family in New York, sampling life and culture in a completely new environment. Despite the growth of the MLS, Manhattan remains one city where Pep can remain almost anonymous in the crowd.

But in signing for the Bavarians, he's ready to step back into the limelight.

Meanwhile, we all know what Jose thinks of English football. The ex-Chelsea boss has a long-held desire to return to these shores when his time at Real Madrid comes to an end.

Jose is open to an English return

England and Spain have been vying toe to toe to be regarded as the best league in the world for the last decade. Perhaps Spain have nosed ahead the last couple of seasons if the FIFA Ballon d’Or awards are a barometer.

But I believe English football is about enter another golden era. Television rights in this country are up 70% from next season – which means while wages are being controlled for lesser talent, English clubs will be able to top dollar and premium for real (or perhaps Real) talent.

Don’t be surprised if the brain drain of managers to England isn’t matched by Latin stars choosing Wigan on a wet Wednesday night too.

Germany's grabbed a superstar coach - but while the Bundesliga's among the most competitive of European leagues, only England has the financial clout to attract a basket of top names.

You heard it here first: English club football is about to enter a period of renewed dominance - and will leave even Spain - and Germany in its wake.

Retirement talk leaves United and Fergie at odds

It's the truth that daren't speak its name at Old Trafford. When is Sir Alex Ferguson going to retire?

 

It's a question being asked of The Govanator more and more frequently - and his answer is always along the lines of "it's not on the horizon".

It's the measure of true greatness

Seasoned Fergie Watchers know why. Firstly, way way back in 2001, when he announced his retirement with a year's notice, the lap of honour descended into indiscipline, no trophies for nearly three seasons, home defeats by Middlesbrough and three third-placed finishes in four seasons.

Secondly, everyone knows Fergie is deeply affected by the death of his own father soon after his retirement. "Such talk is for the young", and "without work, there's nothing else". If there's one thing uniting Fergie with Arsene Wenger, it's on wearing carpet slippers after 60-years-old.

And since establishing that mentality, doesn't Sir Alex look well and in command? It's a long way from the mid-nineties when he looked vulnerable. His face was blotchy, his hairdryers were powered by Sellafield.



Utd ledge now ex-City journeyman. No chance Sparky.

It's even rumoured that Bryan Robson was packed off to Middlesbrough as player-manager because a poll in the Manchester Evening News had Captain Marvel ahead of Fergie as the fan's choice for manager. How insane does that look now?

Now even his glasses look modern and he's learned not to throw his chewy on the floor at the full-time whistle!

Football, bloody 'ell.

Well, this is all fine and dandy for Fergie - but it's not particularly helpful for the raging multinational, multi-income streamed business model that he helped create.

As time draws on, Manchester United's board and owners will need to defend their market position against the likes of Barcelona, Milan and the Noisy Neighbours with a bloodless succession.

But how can they deny Fergie when he keeps winning? As he nudges 70, isn't this a niggling issue at Old Trafford? Would the board be cynical enough to sack him if United went on a hideous run of results or after a catalogue of player indiscipline?

But who for the toughest act to follow in football? comically, it's been on the news agenda for over a decade and thrown up some names, which in hindsight, look absolutely ridiculous.

Can Jose's reputation outlast Fergietime?

Serious candidates have come and gone: even Roy Keane, Steve Bruce and Mark McGhee were talked of. More recently it was Steve McClaren, Sven-Goran Eriksson (that nearly did happen) and Martin O'Neill. Then Mark Hughes and David Moyes.

Now we're left with Jose Mourinho, who's long expressed the desire to return to the Premier League with United. Trouble is, his tenure at Real Madrid may be exposed to the Latin winds of change far quicker than Ferguson's desire to step aside here.

It's left to speculation as to who might be regarded as a top or available boss in three years time! Moyes is the leading domestic name, although sources on Merseyside reckon he'd only want to be next but one boss at Old Trafford.

So when Fergie does go this time, I predict it'll be a coat and dagger affair. As discreet as United can be, he will go and a new manager will be unveiled - all in 24 hours and probably in June. I'm not even going to predict the year!

But I also believe Sir Alex needs to be remembered as much for the way he stepped down as for his phenomenal success. He owes it to both his successor and the club.

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Just accept it. Moyes is happy at Everton!

Manager of the month for September 2012

Whenever Sir Alex Ferguson fields succession questions in those rambling Friday news conferences, when the likes of Spurs and Villa seek new managers, it's been David Moyes who's provided the easy headline.

How long will he stay at Goodison before feeling the need to exercise the wider resources or cheque book of a bigger club? When will ten-years-and-counting be enough for him to cease making silk purses out of sow's ears down Gwladys Street?

But sooner or later, we'll have to face the facts - and it doesn't suit sports journalists looking for a great story.

He's happy at Everton and wants to stay.

Birmingham Evening Mail: Moyes link was serious

Moyes clearly has a special relationship with owner Bill Kenwright and that's just as well - because he's going nowhere either!

Everton's been For Sale for years but as Keith Harris, who's found investors for five Premier League clubs and was charged with finding a buyer for the Blues, conceded that in a economically humble city with Liverpool FC in it too, investors aren't exactly going to beat down the door.

Kenwright once said that if Moyes wanted the keys to United post-Alex, he'd personally chauffeur him to Old Trafford.

But that won't happen either! Well, not in the foreseeable future.

Because while he's not discounting the Old Trafford job, Moyes has privately admitted to those on Merseyside that he'd rather be the next-but-one Old Trafford boss.

Succeeding a legend like Fergie is a hiding to nothing, a poisoned chalice: canny Moyes would rather wait for the itinerant Jose Mourinho or Michael Phelan to shuffle off and keep the seat warm for him instead.

And why would he leave Everton at the moment? His current squad is widely regarded as his best yet. Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines are in contention to become England regulars and Silvain Distin's a great pro, while Jelavic and Fellaini bring craft and quality to their attack. The return of Steven Pienaar and experience of Philip Neville means the Toffees hold their own in midfield.

The toughest act to follow: this one's twenty years ago.

This is a breakthrough season - because even if Everton don't qualify for Europe, they'll probably achieve something not yet done in Moyes' reign: finishing above Liverpool for a second season running. This is a step to establishing Everton as a major club.

Moyes' stock and reputation's at an all-time high too. He's won the LMA Manager of the Year award three times - only Sir Alex can match that achievement.

Financial Fairplay rules will reward parsimonious stability too. The meek shall inherit the earth. It's what the boardrooms at Everton and indeed Arsenal have been banking on for years - through barren trophyless campaigns.

Then there's the 70% rise in TV rights: that'll make for a more level playing field when Everton compete with bigger clubs for players.

And when you take all of this into account, where's better for Moyes to manage?

No. David Moyes is a Toffee into the future and the rest of us will just have to chew over that.

Managing players the critical difference between Fergie and Mancini

As Manchester City's title bid choked at Arsenal, it was perhaps inevitable that the headlines should be made by one of their players - rather than one from the victorious Gunners.

Mario Balotelli's disgraceful lack of self-discipline ended in a last-minute red card and left City boss Roberto Mancini pondering whether to play him ever again and to ditch him in the summer.

Teammates Joe Hart and Vincent Kompany were seething as they left the pitch after defeat. Oh to be a fly on the wall in the City dressing room afterwards.

But the truth is Balotelli shouldn't have been on the park anyway: the boss should've subbed him at halftime. And therein lies the key difference between Mancini and his managerial title rival, Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

Fergie realises the overriding truth that players lose managers their jobs. Imagine Balotelli at United? Not once the Govanator had taken advice from one of the Italian's former bosses at Inter, Jose Mourinho. The Special One sold him to City.

Mancini has shown exceptional patience with both Balotelli and Carlos Tevez and his loyalty's not been rewarded. Fergie's demonstrated time and again that if he's crossed, it's curtains at Old Trafford.

Because the noxious cloud of Balotelli's show enveloped that other miscreant star of the Mancini regime who was also playing. Tevez was so key to City last season and but for six months of tabloid tantrums and AWOL's may well have pushed City over the title line at the expense of United this campaign.

City have splashed out millions on their squad but there's no substitute for experience, continuity and management. Brian Marwood, the conduit between players and the board, revealed the City strategy: win a first title, then invest in youth from there.

It's foundering and largely because Mancini hasn't been ruthless enough with the ill-disciplined elements of his squad.

Next Chelsea boss? It's got to be Roby!

Di Matteo replaced Villas-Boas as caretaker boss

The identity of Chelsea's next boss is staring out under the noses of the billionaire Russian and his tubby apparatchiks. Roberto Di Matteo's lifted the team out of lethargy to the outer perimeter of glory - and he'd be my choice for the hotseat.

Yet Roman Abramovich always opts for the coach with the prevailing wind of hype under his wings - and what does he do with this hot air? He acts on it. Granted the Siberian got it spectacularly right with Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti (and hopelessly wrong when he sacked them both) - but what of the rest?

Grandad Scolari was hired merely because he put England to the sword thrice with Brazil and Portugal. His command of English made Fabio Capello sound like Brian Blessed. Ray Wilkins fronted the media for most of his tenure and when the former Kuwait chief did plop out a few words, he'd not bothered to find out how Chelsea was pronounced!


But quarter-English Baron Villas-Boas, with a full eighteen months management under his belt (fresh from a league and Europa double with Porto), got the nodski because his youth and career path resembled that of the Special One.

Sleeping Booted. So inappropriate for Chelsea

Could Roman make the same mistake again and launch an audacious bid for Pep Guardiola and his like? If so, then taking the Barca boss out of his comfort zone offers no guarantee of Champions League glory down Fulham Broadway anytime soon.



No, Chelsea must appoint Roberto Di Matteo. Iconic scorer of famous Blues goals as a player, he's clearly a man who cares not just for the club but also for the playing group too. Recall his riproaring celebration at the final whistle of Chelsea's Champions League triumph over Napoli. He nearly decapitated Fernando Torres as he sauntered off the pitch, jumping on the Spaniard's back like he was playing the joker in It's a Knockout.

He even got a bear hug from Frank Lampard, a clinch not employed since proposing to Christine Bleakley in the summer.

"Sacked mid-season at West Bromwich Albion!", I hear the cries. That counts for little. The spin should be that he has managed in the Premier League more to the point.

And remember, Rafa Benitez was sacked by Real Valladolid and Osasuna before tasting European success at Valencia and Liverpool. Alex Ferguson was dismissed by St. Mirren in his second job. Whatever happened to him?

Di Matteo's not ruling himself either, although sensibly he only wants to talk about "winning games in a results business". A down-to-earth approach that puts him in good stead for getting the job permanently.

Fergie and Rafa were both sacked early in their careers

Di Matteo's also played recently. He has the respect of the senior players and critically, they play for him. The Chelsea board need to apply completely different criterion and one of them is to get off their high-horse and stop buying the equivalents of a Rolex Daytona.

Think Swatch, Roman! Give it to a man who'd live and breathe Chelsea. Give it to Roby.

Also on Soccermongery: Villas-Boas chewed and spat out by Chelsea and John Terry court verdict will prove a snapshot of our society's health.

  

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How the mouthy have fallen! The week in football

Turns out WBA did for both of them!

You'd be forgiven for thinking Arsenal's team was made up of eleven Englishmen after their heroic failure to reach the last eight of the Champions League the previous week. So it was left to Chelsea to fly the flag for the Premier League.

Up a slightly less steep hill than the Gunners but nevertheless still in a tight spot, Chelsea completed a remarkable fightback to overturn a 3-1 first leg deficit to win 4-1 over Napoli in extra time at the Bridge.

Since taking the reigns from the deposed Andre Villas Boas, caretaker Roberto di Matteo's galvanised the Blues and critically, it's been the Chelsea pensioners of Terry, Lampard and Drogba who steered them to glory with a goal apiece.

This poses a problem for the next Chelsea boss because even though the thirtysomething trio can still do it at the highest level, ultimately they need replacing. Like Villas-Boas tried before, the new man will have to grasp the nettle. 

Paternity leave beckons

But it should be Di Matteo: he's no ordinary stand-in coach even if he's not Roman Abramovich’s first choice. There’s been grandiose talk of a Mourinho return, Fabio Capello (he who stood down over John Terry), and even Pep Guardiola.

But for me Roby's the man: for a starter, he’s a Chelsea ledge. Scorer of famous goals in Cup Finals and more than served his apprenticeship as an English club manager, and you just can't create that exuberant celebration after beating Napoli that showed he cares so much for the club and the group of players.

He almost gave Fernando Torres whiplash, jumping on the Spaniard from just outside his peripheral vision. If he's overlooked in favour of a bigger star, then Roman’s Empire may just continue to go round in circles.

Special mention for Steven Gerrard: on his 400th appearance for Liverpool, he thumped a hat-trrick to flatten neighbours Everton which also marked David Moyes' decade in charge at Goodison. Moyes has guaranteed the Mersey Blues have continually punched above their weight, but this time it's back to the drawing board for those soft-centred Toffees!

The expectation at Anfield is unbearable. History is a huge burden on the back of this current crop especially as manager Kenny Dalglish was responsible for so much of it. How quickly the League Cup win's been forgotten. It's the Champions League that matters.

Meanwhile, if you're in need of entertainment at your football conference, look no further than Dave Richards after a day of embarrassment for the Premier League chairman.

I can’t believe Richards apologised for being a Yorkshireman for what he called his “broad comments” during a speech in Qatar.



What a complete dill!

Richards said, "England gave the world football. It gave the best legacy anyone could give. We gave them the game. We were its governance. We wrote the rules, designed the pitches and everything else. Then 50 years later some guy came along and said you're liars and they actually stole it. It was called Fifa. Fifty years later, another gang came along called Uefa and stole a bit more."

Even the Premier League distanced themselves from their chairman's comments, claiming the old boy wasn't in Qatar in an official capacity.

But event organisers didn’t need to pour cold water on Richards. He did that himself later by falling into a fountain during a trip round a museum! It’s lucky he was helped back to his feet in doublequick time as he might have been mistaken for one of the relics.

Taxi for Richards!

Abramovich's Chelsea circus a far cry from a winning culture

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Pained expression: AVB at WBA in last minutes as boss

It was in June 2011 that Chelsea returned to Porto to hire the brightest young coach in European football.

33-year-old Andre Villas-Boas, with just eighteen months senior management experience, was poached having steered the Dragao-based club to Portuguese and Europa League titles.

Roman Abramovich superimposed the image of Jose Mourinho on the fledgeling coach in the clearest case of cosmic ordering ever scene in football. By leaving Porto for Chelsea with a European title, the instant comparisons with The Special One were either going to be flattering - or flattening. 

Less than nine months later, the Blues owner abandoned Villas-Boas, who'd originally been brought in for the long haul. Remember he'd replaced one of Europe's top coaches, Carlo Ancelotti, who'd steered Chelsea to a sweeping and stylish Double.

Mourinho and friend crushing Barca. Chelsea bound?

But Villas-Boas was swallowed whole by the Chelsea monster. He'll rightly receive massive compensation because being Chelsea boss is a surefire destroyer of reputation in record time. It serves Abramovich right for chasing old trophy glory like a gambler trying to recover his growing losses.

We're told his dismissal was administered with the usual Roman brutality: Villas-Boas was taking training when Abramovich called him in to his nearby Cobham mansion. His services were dispensed with immediately, then apparently the Russian stormed in and told the players they'd be sacked too if they didn't improve.

Sir Alex Ferguson says players lose managers their jobs and Frank Lampard is why the young Blues boss lost the dressing room. Whether you agree with Lampard or not, he should've kept his own counsel and not attracted the tabloid headlines with negative comments.

Perhaps Villas-Boas might've handled Lampard a little better: his relative inexperience as a man, let alone a manager means he'll think twice about how he deals with old-time egos in other dressing rooms - but he should've been given much more time to achieve his goals.



Lampard's Bernard Bresslaw look belies his "huge" IQ

Because he was trying different things at Stamford Bridge. Ancelotti was sacked last summer because it was clear Lampard, Terry and Drogba, the ageing spine of the team, needed reconstruction - and he wasn't addressing it. 

Talk is rife of a sensational return for Mourinho, even iron-fisted Fabio Capello, with his English knowledge and specific experience of the team's big players, has been mentioned.

But whatever the temperament of the man Abramovich picks, he'll have to break up the Lamps and Terry Show and continue the rebuild that AVB had actually started to address quite clearly.

And there were signs it was coming together: David Luiz, Juan Mata and Ramires have talent in spades - the sort of ability that three straight league wins would've further inspired. Putting wayward Fernando Torres to one side, Chelsea were making a reasonable transition. More than a decent of chance of making the Champions League and still in the FA Cup.

The Jose fan club in the dressing room need to take a long hard look at themselves and if they think Mourinho's unlikely return will result in old times rolling, they'll need to think again. There's no way any incoming Chelsea manager will have any truck with troublesome thirtysomethings, who's time is running short.

The man's an island

And Villas Boas will have the last laugh too. While Lamps and Terry drift out of the game, the Portuguese will end up coaching in a top league again.

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Can Mourinho's stock remain high long enough to win battle of succession at United?

Alex Ferguson in 1986

Since Sir Alex Ferguson announced "three more years" just before the shock defeat to Blackburn, the spotlight on succession at Old Trafford has intensified. The three-nil defeat at Newcastle doesn't help Fergie either.

Fergie cites good health and vigour for staying on. He's just turned 70 having completed a quarter-century at Old Trafford in November. Winning is a great tonic and he does seem in rude health.

But just as the England job is dubbed a poisoned chalice, United is whatever the opposite of that is: a refreshing glass of water on a summer's day perhaps -  it's an urgent requirement for those with wildblood..

O'Neill at Sunderland: contender for United job.

Of the two perennial frontrunners, one's sharpened his credentials just by taking a high profile job in the Premier League; the other jokingly referred to a return to a big stage in England in two years, made days before Fergie's seemingly unprompted remark.

I talk of course of Martin O'Neill and Jose Mourinho. O'Neill, whose sheer force of intellect and personality light up wherever he goes, would be a Sunderland hero with Europa League qualification or a trophy. The Roker Roar's been on mute since they left Roker.

Mourinho is the itinerant winning machine. So portable and successful in England, Italy and now Spain at the world's most glamorous club stage. His Midas touch is so powerful, he even got an assist in Andre Villas-Boas' big chance at Chelsea just by being young Portuguese and winning at Porto in similar fashion.

As with Inter, Mourinho's got to wrestle with the best Barcelona of all-time, but as in Italy where Milan and Juventus were beaten off, who'd back against the Portugeezer?

The Special Two

United must learn from their own history though. They've attempted to replace the irreplaceable before. When Sir Matt Busby left, United scrambled round for the right man, a decision at which they repeatedly failed, ending in tearful relegation.



So how to replace the greatest club manager of all time? well, it's got to be someone who consigns United's immediate regime to the past while continually winning at the same pace. A contradiction in terms surely not lost on the Old Trafford ownership. 

Chin up. Mourinho's eyeing Old Trafford

But in reality, it's no different to the way Fergie runs United now. He enjoys the win for a couple of days, then sets the clock back to zero ready to conquer again.
And in both leading candidates, they have the capacity to create distracting tabloid headlines to focus on the hype of the present and ensure the past is the inspiration not the millstone.

Yes, there's other candidates I've not mentioned here: David Moyes, Josep Guardiola, even Eric Cantona's name gets chucked in occasionally, but why look further when there are two outstanding candidates with the all-round CV?

If Mourinho can maintain his reputation as the Special One, I take him to replace Ferguson when the Govanator calls time as Old Trafford's ultimate keeper of the temple.

With that stand named after Sir Alex and squad problems, will the opportunity come faster than the Special One thought?

Time for Moyes to leave Everton?

David Moyes: class act

Everton's victory on Monday night not only extinguished Manchester City's dreams of topping the league at Christmas for the first time since 1929. It also confirmed the hallmarks of David Moyes' Everton: fighting qualities and a determination to battle their way out of a troubled start to the season.

It seems Moyes and Everton were made for each other. Liverpool's Blues are a grand old club with a fine tradition: think School of Science (as Stuart Hall might say), and original Football League members, who played at Anfield before Liverpool even existed.

But where exactly is the 47-year-old Scot going at Goodison? Under him, the Toffees pipped their Red neighbours to qualify for the Champions League in 2005 then reached the Cup Final four years later, only to lose to Chelsea.

Fergie makes time for Rafa's Latin welcome!

Everton follow a similar pattern each season. They struggle with form, injuries and fitness up until November - and then go on a run which sees them qualifty for Europe, more often than not.

Wouldn't Moyes benefit from bigger and better resources? After lifting the club from perennial struggle, should Moyes be thinking of managing with more to play with? 

He's produced a hardy group of hard-to-beat professionals, who've become deserved stars of the Premier League. Tim Cahill, Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, Tim Howard and Marouanne Fellaini to name but five.

Special Chin: Jose Mourinho

In the days of panic after Martin O'Neill quit Aston Villa, Moyes was linked with a move to Villa Park. It turned out to be just paper talk. If O'Neill had quit over a lack of funds, why on earth would Moyes go from the frying pan into the fire?

 
Sir Alex Ferguson would be a massive act to follow at Old Trafford, but you could well imagine Moyes having enough presence and character to build his own United. Risky one though, as Rafa Benitez's sacking after just six months at Inter showed. Champions League-victor, Rafa followed the treble-winning Special One. I have nothing but respect and admiration for both Moyes and Everton - but unless Bill Kenwright can produce game changing funds for Moyes to take the club on, he's got to be thinking about a future away from Goodison.

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Spurs can do a Leeds in the Champions League

Hava Nagila, ve-nismecha!

Harry Redknapp's charges have sent out a message to the rest of Europe with Wednesday night's emphatic win over the Wengerboys: Tottenham's not just there to make up the numbers in this season's Champions League.

Unlike Everton, who fell at the first qualifying hurdle in their one and only shot at the big time, Tottenham's composure at three-nil down in scoring twice in the first leg, followed by their White Hart Lane swagger in the return, means they need fear no one. At least before kickoff!

Who remembers Leeds in the Champions League? David O'Leary steered his young boys all the way to the semi-finals before succumbing to Valencia. He did it with a sizeable squad of top young players including Robbie Keane and Paul Robinson.

We all remember what happened to Leeds after that. A salutary lesson in how not to manage football finances in the modern game. Something they're still recovering from having only just won promotion from the third tier of the English game.

Could've modelled for LS Lowry.

Spurs are different. A bigger, more prosperous fanbase and a committed, future-orientated board with big plans, means the Champions League offers a building block rather than a one-off cup run.

But hold on a sec. The draw's very tough. Inter are defending champions having replaced their Champions League winning architect, Jose Mourinho with another in Rafa Benitez. Losing home and away to Inter mightn't be a disgrace.

No, the opportunities for qualification come against FC Twente and Werder Bremen. Spurs could do a double over the Dutch, while Werder are a decent team but Tottenham have more squad choices to force a result against them.

And there's a strong belief that wheeler dealing Harry hasn't finished trading in the transfer market before the window shuts next week. Luis Fabiano (cup-tied though) or Klaas-Jan Huntelaar would look good in a Spurs kit.

Redknapp's got Tottenham playing really well. He's stepped upto the plate and delivered some of the club's unfulfilled potential with their first appearance in the European Cup since 1962.

He still divides opinion among fans. Some love him for what he's done; some don't because of his dodgy image. I've a feeling that with his concentration on the Tottenham project, any lingering dissention from the terraces will diminish. Spurs are equipped to make a splash in their Champions League bow.

Good luck Tottenham Hotspur. Audere est, well you know what I mean.