The temptation is to think that, after his dismissal by Roma was announced on Tuesday morning, Jose Mourinho is done as a top-level manager.
The third-season syndrome strikes again. His eventual toxicity, where everything gets burned down after a couple of positive years, is so well established now that it’s essentially a guarantee.
He has now been sacked by four clubs in a row, all because of bad results, in contrast to the first half of his career when either he decided when he was done somewhere or left due to personality clashes. The league positions of those teams upon his dismissal were 16th (Chelsea), sixth (Manchester United), seventh (Tottenham Hotspur) and ninth (Roma). He won trophies at three of those four (Tottenham being the exception, though that job was a hospital pass from the start), but in the end, the shining silverware was left in a smouldering pile of rubble.
Any club president, owner, chairperson, CEO of a reasonably sized club will, at the very least, pause for thought before picking up the phone. Is it worth the trouble? Is the short-term success he will probably bring be worth the emotional battering you will take?
On some level, you would question the sense and basic judgement of anyone that does employ him. The scorched earth is less a by-product these days and more of a brand. In the past, when he would soil himself for attention in public, it was perceived as a method of protecting his players, drawing all the attention and hate onto himself and away from them. But these days, it’s more about self-preservation, to emphasise that some factor other than himself was responsible for the latest adverse result, failed signing or FA charge.
But someone will always press the big red button marked ‘Jose’. Football is a short-term game now, so why even think about the third year, never mind beyond it? Only five current Premier League managers have been in charge for longer than that anyway. Four in La Liga. Just two in Serie A. Take your trophies then get rid. He might only be running on the fumes of his genius these days, but fumes can still get you somewhere.
Again, those trophies. Even in the post-Real Madrid era, at the clubs that have sacked him, he won the Premier League at Chelsea and the Europa League and League Cup at Manchester United, where his claim that finishing second in 2017 was one of the best achievements of his career doesn’t look so silly now. He also won the Conference League at Roma, their first European trophy since the 1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and their first of any description since 2008.
He also remains popular with the people. A significant contingent of Roma fans still love him despite recent results and in many ways, he’s the perfect modern manager for an increasing paranoid fan culture where many are convinced there is some sort of conspiracy against their club. If you want someone to pour fuel on your burning sense of injustice, he’s your man.
It doesn’t take particularly long to draw up a list of possible places he could go.
There’s Saudi Arabia. Mourinho claimed last year he turned down “the biggest proposal ever in the history of football for a manager” and later said he was “convinced” he would work there one day. You’d imagine his agent’s phone is already ringing.
There’s Newcastle. Eddie Howe’s position doesn’t appear to be in any immediate peril, but if results continue to follow the current path then that might change. Newcastle’s owners haven’t been drawn in by star power yet, so Mourinho would be an out-of-character appointment, but at some point, they could adopt the attitude that they need someone to ‘take them to the next level’, however misguided the idea of Mourinho being that man is.
There’s Chelsea. Sounds silly, but don’t rule it out completely. Their lack of progress this season might not be all Mauricio Pochettino’s fault, but their owners’ patience will only stretch so far. In a recent survey by The Athletic, 30 per cent of Chelsea fans said they would take Mourinho back. Not an overwhelming mandate, but probably more than you thought might still hold a candle for him.
There’s Real Madrid. Again, don’t rule it out. Carlo Ancelotti may have recently signed a new contract, but contracts matter little to Florentino Perez once the worm turns and Perez apparently still loves Mourinho, they still speak, the flame is still alive.
There’s Porto. An emotional return to the club where he had his first dazzling successes feels somehow appropriate. Manager Sergio Conceicao isn’t enormously popular after a rough season (by their standards) in which they are lagging behind league leaders Sporting Lisbon. It also raises the delicious possibility of Mourinho working for Andre Villas-Boas. His former coach, with whom he fell out quite spectacularly after Villas-Boas showed scandalous disloyalty by leaving Mourinho’s staff at Inter Milan to cast out on his own, is running for the Porto presidency. He also seems to have a reasonable chance of unseating Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, who has been in place since 1982.
There’s Turkey. He’s got either Galatasaray or Fenerbahce written all over him, hasn’t he? Imagine how he’d thrive in the country that seems to despise referees and foster conspiracy even more than him.
There’s MLS. There’s only one job available and with the greatest of respect to Minnesota as a team and a place, it’s tough to imagine him rocking up there, but the prospect of somewhere more glamourous could appeal to his still significant ego.
Finally, there’s international management. He has said in the past he would like to manage a national team at some point. That was supposed to be the final gig of his career, but times change. And it was supposed to be Portugal, but Roberto Martinez’s feet are under the table and he probably won’t be going anywhere for a while.
What about the USA? Greg Berhalter’s contract runs until the 2026 World Cup, but a bad showing at this summer’s Copa America might change that and the authorities may not want to go into a home World Cup with the prospect of being embarrassed. There has even been talk of Brazil, even if a) they have only just got a new head coach and b) it’s hard to imagine a less ‘jogo bonito’ manager if you tried.
In many ways, an international gig might be best for everyone: those who are not fans of Mourinho and those who love him. The former category can broadly ignore him for the majority of the time, while the latter can gorge themselves on pure, uncut Jose every couple of years at major tournaments.
Mourinho is on a downward trajectory. Gone is the charisma and magnetism of his early years, but people will always be dazzled by even the residual light of his star power. People will still think he could be the man to elevate them. And, to reiterate the point, people will remember he’s still a manager capable of success, both tangible and otherwise.
If you think this is the end of Jose Mourinho, think again.
(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
