Mourinho was ready to blow up
I DON’T know what Mark Hughes brings to football clubs as a manager — I can’t pigeonhole him and there doesn’t seem to be a unifying thread between all his clubs.
But what I do know is that, as a very bright guy who understands the game as a player and a manager, he’d make a very good director of football and I’d have loved to have seen him taking that role at my club, Aston Villa.
FOR footballers and managers, Mondays and Tuesdays are almost the best days of the week.
You’ve just played a game, it’s all about recovery and getting matchday out of your system, so things are normally quite relaxed.
Wednesdays are often days off, Thursdays are intense, and Fridays are usually about five-a-sides so by game day, everyone is ready and raring to go again. Everyone is pumped, peaking and ready for the battle that lies ahead.
That’s the context with which I looked at the flare-up between Jose Mourinho (left, with Maurizio Sarri) and Chelsea backroomer Marco Ianni.
Because the Manchester United boss would have been amped up ahead of Saturday’s clash even if he hadn’t twice been Chelsea’s manager, led them to three league titles and left both times under a cloud.
We’ve not even added the crowd into the mix yet and the fact some sections baited him for the full 90 minutes.
So if someone goes out of their way to get in someone else’s face in an environment like that then there’s a very good chance they are going to react.
And Mourinho has a very good argument for gross provocation under the circumstances.
I WANT the old Sean Dyche back, the one who comes in after games and says, ‘You know what, we played against a top-quality side, they were better than us and that scoreline is going to be replicated against other Champions League teams at times this season.
‘One or two things went against us but that’s that’.
Managers don’t need to go into specifics, as Dyche did on Saturday following Burnley’s 5-0 gubbing by Manchester City, otherwise it looks like they’re moaning. And he never used to.