Thursday, September 20, 2007

Thank you, Jose Mourinho

So this week did not do for Ming Campbell, as some of the wilder speculation had forecast. Instead it has done for Jose Mourinho.

As a life-long Chelsea fan, I feel nothing but gratitude towards the Special One. Until his arrival the thought that Chelsea would ever win the Premiership still seemed a fantasy.

Yes, he had Abramovich's millions to spend. But most of the silly money was spent under Ranieri (or at Abramovich's insistence) and Mourinho's real skill lay in his ability to engender a fierce loyalty and team spirit in a small group of players, much as he had done at Porto.

What was most impressive about Mourinho was his willingness to change the formation or take off good players if a game was not going well. Contrast this with Sven Goran Eriksson, who stuck to the same players and the same formation come what may.

As to his successor, the talk in the Conference bars this week is that it will be Nick Clegg or Chris Huhne.

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