Letter from America: José Mourinho is our prat, God bless him
What is it with José Mourinho bashing? The latest example in our pages is to call him a prat (or rather PRAT) which according to my online dictionary, is “an incompetent, stupid, or foolish person”. I’m not personally acquainted with Mr Mourinho, but simply from observing what he has achieved, both at Chelsea and at Porto, the last thing one could call him is “incompetent” or “stupid”, so I suppose it must be “foolish” which draws down the ire. Referring back to my trusty dictionary, this means “lacking good sense or judgement”. Well, I suppose there is a case to be answered on that, but in general, if he is wrong (and even in the infamous case of Barcelona and the Referee, he turned out right about what he said he had observed), he is generally the first (well maybe the second) to admit it.
In the recent Everton game, once he had viewed Andy Johnson’s dive that was not a dive, he said he was wrong and apologised rather handsomely, I thought. Given Johnson’s propensity for doing just that, and Chelsea having already lost two keepers this year from collisions with opponents, his immediate reaction was hardly surprising. Would Arsene Wenger have resisted punching David Moyes? Would Sir Alex Ferguson have resisted haranguing the referee? It seems to me that Mourinho reacted the way nearly every fan would have reacted, and does so consistently. When the opposition scores, he looks glum. When Chelsea scores, he leaps around like a schoolboy and if he runs up and down the touchline displaying his glee, would any of us resist doing just that if we had the opportunity? Like it or not, Mourinho identifies himself with the club and its players, as do all managers one hopes, and if his reactions seem a little off the mark on occasion, it is surely the subjectivity of the moment. Does this make him foolish?
But, I hear our critics say, he is a public figure and should be above such manifestations. His words should be divorced of all criticism, politically and sportively correct. B-O-L-L-O-C-K-S. All the best managers indulge in copious word games to unsettle the opposition. It should be encouraged rather than quashed. Have we all forgotten the duels fought, only a few years ago via the intermediary of the press, between Wenger and Ferguson. It was the stuff of legend and wonderful entertainment, at least to this neutral, but for all the hype, I don’t think that Mourinho is really quite up to that level yet. He seems too willing to adopt the objective view, even if this means he is wrong. Of course, when he is right, he sticks to his guns, except when this puts him into immediate conflict with UEFA or the FA, two organisations notorious for taking any adverse criticism extremely badly. All power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely, wrote Lord Acton. UEFA, especially, would have been grist for his mill. Mourinho is not an irresistible force, and when he meets with an immovable object, it is only common sense to concede, even if this has to be learned the hard way.
If it is foolish to react extravagantly to events, then we are all foolish at times, whoever we support, whatever we do in life. Over the years, I have seen many great managers. They have always been larger than life figures. Just think of Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Brian Clough, Jock Stein, to name just a few. Did any of them react to a goal from either side with passivity? Did any of them ever hesitate to say what they felt at any given moment? I doubt it. They were castigated by opponents and their supporters, but they were secretly admired too, for what each of them could do was create a successful, dominating, winning side, and that is a very rare ability indeed. Mourinho is not a politician angling for an election, nor is he trying to win wimp of the year award. What he is doing is create a dominating, winning side. Since football is a kind of zero sum game, his success is someone else’s failure, with all the animosity and jealousy it may engender. He is paid a very large sum of money to do what he is doing, and I for one, do not begrudge him one penny of it. If this involves him saying and doing things that raise the hackles of those less fortunate than ourselves at this juncture in time, then so be it. If Mourinho is a prat, then thank God, he is our prat.
A Merry Christmas to all readers, of whatever faith or sportive persuasion, but I especially wish a successful New Year to all those who so proudly sport the Blue.
- Posted at 10:18 PM · Permalink · Print · 2005 views · Last indexed by Google on the 8th May 2008
- Tags: Alex Ferguson, Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Brian Clough, Chelsea, David Moyes, Everton, Jock Stein, Jose Mourinho, Liverpool, Manchester United
Very well said. We love our Special One. The opponents can only drool over our successes.
“We are committed. We want to work together for the future of this club. This season was not the end, just the start. To win the Championship after 50 years was a fantastic achievement. We must look forward now to win more silverware, not after another half a century but year after year.”
JM, 6-05-2005 (after Liverpool defeat)
Just the kind of prat every football fan would like to see managing his team ; )
Wish you all and yours a joyous Holiday Season and a prosperous 2007
One of a kind. Critics need to learn to seperate his public persona from how he acts with his players and other managers behind closed doors. He gets on with almost all other managers (the hilariously unhumourous Rijkaard and Wenger being the exceptions), and most of his ex-players won’t say a word against him. He fosters loyalty, and an egomaniac, much less a prat, would be unable to do that.
As I’ve said here many, many times, it’s such a shame that our press is so tactically illiterate that they can only focus on the headline-grabbing stories rather than what is really interesting, Jose’s approach to football and how he carries out his success.
Wonderful response from a Chelsea point of view. I wouldn’t be swapping Jose for Fergie, Arsene or any other manager on the planet.
I have alway felt that he speaks from the heart and he says exactly what Chelsea fans think, and personally, that is exactly what I want from our manager.
Keep doing what you do Jose….as the song says ” We are the Chelsea and we are the best….We are the Chelsea so **** all the rest”
Merry Christmas to all blog readers and here is hoping for 12 points from the festive season.
Nice one Graham - for all his flaws, the guy is an incredible manager and we’re very lucky to have him.
David Moyes’ comments about Jose’s tactical approach to the Everton game spoke volumes - think they were published on the official site - but not widely reported as tactics are beyond most English hacks who’d prefer to stir up sh*t.
Dont you people know rules are different for chelsea.
Dictionaries, FA rules, etc, they dont apply to chelsea. I thought it was made clear by fines from FA & comments from people outside the club.
Wonderful article Graham and every bit of it rings true. I am often espousing the merits of JM to those doubters at work who merely spout the “I hate Mourinho” line without any real backing for it. He is not perfect and falls a little too easily into pre-baited press traps because English is not his first language, but even so he always comes across as smart, intelligent and interesting. Right out of the Shankly/Clough/Ferguson mould.
Merry Xmas to all you blog readers and thanks for all your comments, good or bad.
And I include Liverpool fans in that as well!
I love him, and the only think I would reproach him for is the imaginary card waving, which I do think is pretty awful and just makes him look stupid.
An excellent article.
Here’s to a succesful festive period - four wins out of four and we will be top I bet you. In fact I have a sneaky feeling we may be top before Christmas.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all the bloggers.
Up the Chels!
Merry Chrimbo all. Many thanks for the consistently excellent work by Nick and his elves.
Come on you Blue boys!
I rue the day Jose is driven out of Stamford Bridge by our own fans. Shame on us if it happens.
He is a fabulous coach, respected by the team, and takes a lot of pressure off the team by the very antics some Blue fans hammer him about.
Understand this: there will NEVER be anyone like Jose again, enjoy him.
Jose is quite simply a genius, a flawed genius, but he’s ours.
As fans and supporters of the “Mighty Blues” we should make the most of this guy, because I think we’re unlikely to see the likes of him again.
Merry Xmas to everyone on this site especially Nick and the guys that write intelligent, and I think well balanced blogs.
And my wife thinks he’s drop dead gorgeous, but then again I think she’s a “tart”
P.S. And that would be Jose, not you Nick