Jan 13, 2007

Roman empire begins to crumble

I'm finding it difficult to believe that at the first sign of trouble Jose Mourinho is considering departing from Stamford Bridge. Then again, the ego taking off as easy as he landed would be greeted by some as a wonderful thing. More to do with a potential Chelsea slide than disliking Mourinho's antics and post-match interviews. You cant deny he isn't top draw entertainment and if he was to depart from the Premiership it would be a big loss to the English game.

No players arriving this transfer window and Jose is not best pleased. I'm sure the board would have concerns about bringing in more superstars after the disappoint that has been Ballack and Shevchenko. Jose has gone public to complain and make one or two comments that have been taken (cryptically) to mean he wants out. Textbook knee-jerk from the tabloids but it's still difficult to really know for sure if Jose has had enough.

But whether there is a power-struggle between Kenyon/Roman and JM or if this is some kind of elaborate Jedi-mind trick from The Special One - its difficult to gauge.

Two titles on the trot followed by an injury crisis and lack of relentless form. With United doing well enough to be sitting in first place, you could simply say that the heat is on and suddenly Jose is under a bit of pressure. My personal opinion is that he wouldn't want to just walk out if he failed to achieve a 3rd successive title or possibly the Champions League. But then again, football is fickle. Thats from the fans all the way up to the owner.

Chelsea are a lucky lucky club to have landed a saviour financially and then to have Jose lead them to success. They shouldn't forget their history (or lack of) and if they happen to have a fruitless season, they should not be the ones to force Mourinho out of the club. They should stop fooling themselves into thinking they suddenly have the God-given right to be 'the biggest club in the world'. They won't find a better manager than Jose. They should remember that.

Its a volatile situation because he might walk out anyway, simply because he can. It's not like he would struggle to get another job. As for Chelsea, psychologically, they may not recover from losing him.




But it's all 'what if' at the time of writing. Not until the final whistle of the final game of the season will we know. I remember a Chelsea fan a few years ago basking in the glory of his club being bought by a Russian billionaire and then seeing them appoint the well-groomed manager from Porto. He made a comment that back then that I've only recently remembered:

"We'll find a way to fuck it up....because we're Chelsea"

Didn't have to wait long for the fire to start.


~Spooky

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