Photo credit: [nigerianeye.com]
In a long, drawn out affair spanning from Gabriel Clarke’s infamous ‘We’ll assume it’s England’ interview, following Real Madrid’s exit from the Champions League, to the Premier League’s ‘mistaken’ article yesterday, ‘confirming’ Mourinho’s return, ‘The Special One’ is back in the hot seat at Chelsea.
Chelsea fans will be partying in the streets of Fulham tonight; their nemesis Rafael Benitez has gone, off to Italy to take on the Napoli job, and ‘King José’ is back. The main question being asked however is, will his second stint at Chelsea be one of success? The immediate response ought to be yes; he is arguably inheriting a stronger squad than the one he worked with before, which was also an excellent team. Working with players like Mata, Oscar and Hazard, a resurgent Lampard, and potentially even Romelu Lukaku who is back from his loan at West Bromwich Albion, ought to be a manager’s dream. He still has the ever-consistent Petr Cech in goal and of course versatile defenders, Luiz and Ivanovic. Chelsea will also no doubt add to this squad over summer in order to challenge for the title, so the indicators are positive for Mourinho and the Chelsea contingent.
Mourinho became hot favourite to take the job at Chelsea following his interview on television in which he stated ‘I will go where people love me…there is one club that does’, and since then the anticipation and excitement has snowballed; Apparently so much that somebody at the Premier League just could not wait to tell us today, instead electing to publish the confirmation on Sunday morning!
The club issued the following statement earlier this afternoon:
Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Jose Mourinho as First Team Manager.
Mourinho has signed a four-year contract and will return to the club where he won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups between 2004 and 2007.
Ron Gourlay, Chelsea FC Chief Executive, said: ‘I am delighted to welcome Jose back to Chelsea. His continued success, drive and ambition made him the outstanding candidate.
‘It is our aim to keep the club moving forward to achieve greater success in the future and Jose is our number one choice as we believe he is the right manager to do just that.
‘He was and remains a hugely popular figure at the club and everyone here looks forward to working with him again.’
Since leaving Chelsea in 2007, the 50-year-old Portuguese has worked in Italy with Inter and Spain with Real Madrid, lifting three league championships, two domestic cups and the Champions League.
Originally appointed at Stamford Bridge in 2004, immediately after winning Europe’s top competition with Porto, he quickly achieved success securing his first trophy for the club as early as February 2005, when we beat Liverpool 3-2 after extra-time in Cardiff to win the Carling Cup. We went on to win the league that season with a record 95 points and a record low of just 15 goals conceded in 38 games.
The club celebrated consecutive championships in our centenary 2005/06 season, secured with a 3-0 win over Manchester United in late April, and the next campaign we were able to add the Carling Cup with victory over Arsenal in Cardiff, and the FA Cup when United were beaten again in the first senior game at the new Wembley.
Mourinho departed by mutual consent in September 2007, going on to develop his already impressive CV by winning the Serie A twice in two years and the Champions League with Inter, before joining Real Madrid in 2010, where he lifted both La Liga and the Copa Del Rey, ending his stay in Spain yesteday.
He brings three coaching staff with him in Rui Faria, Silvino Louro and Jose Morais. Each carries the title of Assistant First Team Coach and will work alongside current first team staff Steve Holland, Christophe Lollichon and Chris Jones.
The new manager will be officially presented in a press conference at Stamford Bridge on Monday 10 June, further details of which will follow in due course.
Mourinho is not without his critics, in the outspoken way he deals with things, but one can certainly concede that Match of the Day will be considerably more exciting next season.
Baseline Sport 