Night that spelled end of the affair for Mourinho

IT WAS inevitable in the end, the fracturing of the relationship between Jose Mourinho and Chelsea. Football is too raw and too intense for it to be any other way.

The 4- 0 Chelsea beating of Mourinho’s United last October concluded with the Portuguese haranguing Antonio Conte on the touchline.

At Stamford Bridge they chose to forgive him that lack of grace. This was Jose. He hates losing and that, after all, was part of what they once loved about him.

Here at the Bridge last night, however, the relationship changed and for now the pause button has been pressed on the mutual love and respect. One senses it will remain that way until Mourinho is done with football and the passing of time softens the edges of new rivalry.

By full-time, the signs were writ large. No handshake on the field between the two managers, Mourinho facing the United supporters with fist pressed hard to his heart. From the Chelsea fans, taunts of ‘Judas’ hung in the air. Mourinho was sacked twice by their club, but abuse is abuse and doesn’t have to make sense.

However, the really significant moment had arrived midway through the first half.

With Mourinho badgering the fourth official in front of the dugouts,s, the supporters nearby tore into him pretty much for the first time in his life.

‘ It’s always your fault,’ they sang at their old manager and d this was soon followed by a chorus of: ‘You’re not special any more.’

Mourinho’s response was swift, as though pre-rehearsed. Three fingers in the air and then a point down at the turf. Three Premier League titles. Right here. Won by me. For you.

And that was where it effectively ended. A mutual admiration society founded the day Mourinho walked through the door from Porto in 2004 was torn up amid the melting pot of an FA Cup quarterfinal almost 13 eventful years later.

It was inevitable, too. No matter what you have done at a football club and no matter what the relationships you have formed, nothing can be expected to survive once you have made the decision to work for the enemy. In the days that followed his sacking at Chelsea last season, the club’s supporters showed loyalty to Mourinho. Back then, it was the Chelsea players who were blamed for the club’s shambolic league title defence. Mourinho was a victim thethen, a fall guy butchered by a dressing room that didn’t care. Now he is a threat, the same malevolent presence he was to opposition teams across the country during his Chelsea years. Public Enemy No 1 and then some. Interestingly last night, all