Simple Mourinho Question

[Crimen y Castigo]

How likely was Mourinho's move to Chelsea if Porto had not won the Champion's League? I know Ranieri was assumed a dead man walking, perhaps even if he won the CL himself.

But who were the other likely contenders, if there were any? Or does nobody know for sure?

Honestly, just curious. Apologies if this has been covered a million times before.

[Pazarius]

Didier Deschamps of Monaco was the other name mentioned at the time, at least by the papers. Monaco faced Porto in that champions league final, so some speculate that Roman Abramovitch treated that match as a tie-breaker and intended to offer the job to whoever won.

And of course Sven Goran Eriksson was supposed to be in the running early on, but (after a media circus) he signed a new contract with England, ruling himself out.

[fernb8]

JM winning the CL, and beating Manure while winding up Sir Red Nose, probably had a lot to do with him being the "special one" for Chelsea.

The primary contender was Sven "the twat" Ericsson (thank ******** we didnt get him), there was tonnes of speculation while Ranieri was still in charge. The media had pictures of Kenyon meeting with SGE (sounds like Colgate) and it was all over the papers for a while.

As for Ranieri being a dead man walking. IMO he would have been given one more season if he won, but ultimately it would have come down to winning the League and I dont see us doing that under Ranieri.

[Eddie26]

JM winning the CL, and beating Manure while winding up Sir Red Nose, probably had a lot to do with him being the "special one" for Chelsea.

The primary contender was Sven "the twat" Ericsson (thank ******** we didnt get him), there was tonnes of speculation while Ranieri was still in charge. The media had pictures of Kenyon meeting with SGE (sounds like Colgate) and it was all over the papers for a while.

As for Ranieri being a dead man walking. IMO he would have been given one more season if he won, but ultimately it would have come down to winning the League and I dont see us doing that under Ranieri.

"We are just not a good as Arsenal or Manchester United". That's the one thing I hated about CR. He would always so crap like that. He needed to go, no matter how much we all loved him.

I say a prayer Sven never came here every day.

Deschamps I thought was the dark horse candidate for the job. (Even though his one season here wasn't so great. Well, it kind of sucked. Was a typical Chelsea signing at the time.)

http://chelsea2.chelseafc.com/database/deschamps.jpg

[Hurley]

I read an interview with Mourinho's agent where he said that he already had an agreement with Chelsea when Porto faced Deportivo in the semi-finals.

[tedwar]

If you read Made in Portugal, JM received death threats and his family was threatened, right before the CL final and in the following weeks. But JM also made it clear that was looking for other challenges. The death threats made him drop the idea of going to Inter.

Tony

[yasik19]

If you read Made in Portugal, JM received death threats and his family was threatened, right before the CL final and in the following weeks. But JM also made it clear that was looking for other challenges. The death threats made him drop the idea of going to Inter.

Tony

some people quit over death threats, Jose just dismisses and goes on with his life. Got to admire that.

[Crimen y Castigo]

I read an interview with Mourinho's agent where he said that he already had an agreement with Chelsea when Porto faced Deportivo in the semi-finals.

This would make sense and is exactly what I was wondering about.

Anyway .. Thanks for the responses.

[lobomojo]

Interesting article on JM:

"FOR ONE LEAGUE MATCH DURING his managerial career in Portugal, José Mourinho wore a heart monitor as an experiment. The results, he claims, showed a man of extraordinary detachment. “The highest reading,” he said, “was when I ran to the dressing-room at half-time."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,27-1716436,00.html