Jose the Yid?

[cdmphy]

Interesting speculation by the Gaffer. So what do we think of the likelihood and what do we think of it?


http://eplleague.blogspot.com/2007/04/is-tottenham-jose-mourinhos-next.html#links

[DaeHaMinGuk]

I'd welcome him with open arms. I'm 50/50 with Jol. Mourinho is easily one of the top 3 or so managers in the world. My only scare is that he'd turn Spurs into a boring team, but one that gets results.

[arak0r]

i think id vomit. a lot. i cant ********ing stand him

[DigitalTron]

If Morewhigneyo leaves Chelsea it will be a major mistake for the guy that may have stolen the Russion oil billions, that bald administrator guy with the dubious initials PK who may have been stolen from Manchester United, and that Scandanavian guy who may have been stolen from Spurs.

Mourinho built that team around a concept and it's working like a well-oiled machine when they're not having an injury crisis coupled with an owner who inexplicably prevented the coach from plugging the hole in January. With Mourinho, Chelsea are one of the top 5 teams in the world, without him, they may slip to top 10 before they bounce back up.

That being said, I don't want him at Spurs. I have a lot of faith in Jol, I like the way he's developing the youth of the team. I like the way he's bringing in talented players like Berbatov, Lennon, and sticking with talented players that other people want to cast aside like Keane. I like the fact that he's turned us into a wonderfully attacking team. Yeah, we need to bolster our defense, but I don't want to play bunker-ball like Mourinho's Chelsea. I like where Spurs are and where they're headed.

And we all know that if Mourinho leaves, he'll be headed straight to Real Madrid. If things aren't to his liking in Madrid, there are plenty of La Liga and Serie A teams that would bend over backwards to get him. He wouldn't leave Chelsea and go to Spurs anyway. Unless he turned Spurs into a better side than Chelsea--by paying less than half the wages and transfer fees--he'd be viewed as a failure, and I can't see his ego taking that well.

-Digital

[chanman83]

we could end up like his porto team. Judges your rating on that dive... 10, 10, 9, 10... free kick :p

[Danners9]

I seriously doubt it'll happen, Mourinho would probably go to Spain if/when he leaves the boring blues.

[The Double]

No shot in hell he comes here.

[wrekinrak25]

with absolutely nothing against tottenham, could jose have as much success without an abramovich of an owner?, or do you think he'd get the wallets at the club open for more expensive players?

[pookspur]

with absolutely nothing against tottenham, could jose have as much success without an abramovich of an owner?, or do you think he'd get the wallets at the club open for more expensive players?

his time at porto suggests that he needs neither abramovich nor excessively expensive players to succeed at the highest levels. he will succeed wherever he goes*, because he's one of the best managers in the world - though success is always relative from club to club.

but he's not coming to spurs, and i'm more than allright with that (see footnote).


*he'll also be an ass there.

[Colm]

0% chance, if he leaves it will be for Real Madrid.

[DaeHaMinGuk]

What's funny is that people who take Mourinho's comments to the media as being the truth really don't understand him.

By constantly making outlandish remarks to the media, the focus of the media is on him, not the players. At a club with as many star players as Chelsea, the media could really harrass and adversely affect the locker room. Yes, there are backroom issues, but the issue is between Mourinho and Abramovich. If it were between Mourinho and the players, Chelsea wouldn't be in contention for 4 titles this season.

If Mourinho were the asshole that everyone thinks he is, don't you think his players would bail on him at the drop of a hat? The only player who has rebelled against him was Gallas, who was whining about having to play left back instead of his favored center back. That is an issue of tactics, not personality clashes with Mourinho. When guys like SWP, Cudicini and Bridge go as long as they do being backups, it means they buy into the idea that the team comes before their individual playing time.

The fact that 99% of non-Chelsea fans buy into this idea that Mourinho is truly an ego-maniac asshole shows that Mourinho has succeeded at what he set out to do- win matches/trophies while ensuring that his players are protected from the media. He knows that Chelsea could easily be a Real Madrid, where the players don't respect the manager and thus don't play hard and are a media circus. Mourinho is able to command respect, as shown by how hard his players fight for him. If Real Madrid had a forthright manager who commanded respect from his squad and was able to protect his team from the media distractions, Real Madrid would be just as successful as Chelsea has been in recent years.

Guys like Joe Cole are equivalent to what Jenas is for us. A wealth of potential and talent, but very little substance. Mourinho was able to get Cole to reach his potential. I guarantee you that Mourinho would be able to elevate the play of Jenas, if not Jenas would be gone. Either way, that's win-win.

It seems like people buy into what is said through the media a bit too much. This works right into Mourinho's hands and he's a genius for manipulating the media into his favor.

[pookspur]

What's funny is ...

being from indiana, i spent twenty years listening to folks use this same explanation as to why bob knight isn't an asshole. "he's not really such an ass, he's just acting like one for the good of the team". well, where i come from, how one acts is the very criteria for being an 'asshole'.

deliberate or otherwise, mourinho's an asshole.

great, great manager. asshole.

[Danners9]

his time at porto suggests that he needs neither abramovich nor excessively expensive players to succeed at the highest levels. he will succeed wherever he goes*, because he's one of the best managers in the world - though success is always relative from club to club.

but he's not coming to spurs, and i'm more than allright with that (see footnote).


*he'll also be an ass there.

His Porto team was functional with a few players capable of doing exciting things.. but also a big team of cheats. Ask Celtic how they feel about the UEFA Cup final. They were a tight unit, quite similar to how Fat Sam gets Bolton to overperform every year. His Chelsea team, for all the money they have spent, is very similar.. they should be better than they are but they get results.

Results over performances, i guess it is a results-based business and you can't win playing pretty football all the time.

[DaeHaMinGuk]

I think the lack of pretty football is why Abramovich wants to rid himself of Mourinho. Hence, why he supposedly wants Klinsmann badly. Klinsmann would get the most attack out of Chelsea, but who knows how the results would be.

[Danners9]

For the sort of investment in attacking players you would think the team would play some really flowing attacking football. The likes of Ballack, Robben, Shevchenko, Joe Cole, SWP I suppose, but instead it really is dull. Not like last season or the year before.

[ox utd]

being from indiana, i spent twenty years listening to folks use this same explanation as to why bob knight isn't an asshole. "he's not really such an ass, he's just acting like one for the good of the team". well, where i come from, how one acts is the very criteria for being an 'asshole'.

deliberate or otherwise, mourinho's an asshole.

great, great manager. asshole.

He still cracks me up, though. :D
(Mourinho, that is, not Knight - he's just an asshole!)

[pookspur]

...Knight - he's just an asshole!

man, i could tell you stories.

[DaeHaMinGuk]

For the sort of investment in attacking players you would think the team would play some really flowing attacking football. The likes of Ballack, Robben, Shevchenko, Joe Cole, SWP I suppose, but instead it really is dull. Not like last season or the year before.

IMO, the problem is that he's been forced to play 4-4-2, because I'm sure Roman has "forced" him to start Sheva. Mourinho certainly doesn't want to replace Drogba with Sheva, if he stuck with the 4-3-3 that helped Chelsea play pretty football in the past. Thus, he has no choice but to play 4-4-2.

With the 4-4-2, whether it's his fault or not, he's been playing 4 CM-types in MF, which creates too much clutter near the top of the box. They badly missed Cole and Robben.

One thing for sure, Mourinho should have played Wright-Phillips more than he did. Ballack shouldn't have started as many matches as he did. His main use would be to give Lampard the odd rest. He is too repetitive with Lampard at CM, esp in a 4-4-2.

[Danners9]

I'm not sure about the 4-4-2 thing. They have been playing 4-3-3 with Shevchenko starting wide, Drogba in the middle and one of SWP/Robben/Cole/Kalou on the other side. It allows whoever the right or left back is to push on and cover the space when Shevchenko moves in.

The problem has been the signing of Shevchenko and Ballack, no doubt they are good players but Chelsea didn't need them and probably didn't want them either. The formation before worked fine, and they played a lot better stuff. But Drogba wasn't scoring as many goals either, so swings and roundabouts perhaps.

They used to have 1 striker with 2 wingers and Lampard and Makelele in midfield with Gudjohnsen linking and pushing up as a 2nd striker. Then when Essien came in it was him and Makelele with Lampard pushing forward and Eidur coming off the bench a lot more.

Now they have become a unit that grinds out results, scores the odd spectacular goal and breaks the other teams spirit before going on to score more - like last night. But against Watford they didn't break them down and got very fortunate with a last second goal. And against Valencia too, although if Canizares hadn't made a few special saves it would have been different altogether - but the same also applies to Cech week in week out.

They seem unbalanced, as if the changes have been forced upon them and it's proving tough to accomodate everyone and get them all playing to their strengths.

[mattie g]

It'd be interesting in Klinsi ended up at Chelsea. I see Chelsea as playing something quite like the traditional German hard-nosed, efficient style. So in comes Klinsi to turn around a relatively boring (albeit very talented) team to try to turn them into a team with a little more flair and panache.

That said, I wouldn't want Mourinho at The Lane. I'm happy with Jol right now and think that some cotinuity with the team and coaching staff should see us go into next season really strong. If we start of poorly, then, and only then, do I think we'll need to make a tough decision on Jol.