TYKES LAND A SPECIAL No.2!

Morais played part in Jose’s glory run

BARNSLEY say new manager Jose Morais was their number one target from the start and can bring excitement back to the club.

The Tykes announced the appointment of the Portuguese on an 18-month contract, to replace Paul Heckingbottom, who left for Leeds earlier this month.

Morais served as assistant to Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Chelsea, winning La Liga, Serie A and Premier League titles alongside his compatriot.

Chief executive Gauthier Ganaye said of the appointment: “We’re really, really pleased to have secured the club’s number one target from the start.

“We invited Jose to the Sheffield Wednesday match and began talks immediately with him and his representatives.

“We spoke to a lot of head coaches, who were both in and out of employment, and they were all strong contenders, but the unanimous decision was to appoint Jose.”

Treble

The 52-year-old had appeared to emerge as a late candidate for the Oakwell job after St Mirren’s Jack Ross ruled himself out of the reckoning and Wycombe rejected an approach to speak to boss Gareth Ainsworth.

Morais played seven seasons as a midfielder in the Portuguese lower leagues.

After initially assisting Mourinho at Porto in 2002, the Lisbon native went on to win an historic European treble as his right-hand man with Inter and a league and cup double at Real.

His most recent jobs as a fully-fledged boss have been at Tunisian side Espérance, Antalyaspor in Turkey and Greek giants AEK Athens.

Fluent in seven languages, Morais will take charge at Oakwell for the first time for the visit of fellow strugglers Burton on Tuesday.

Ganaye added: “Jose instilled the board with the belief that he is the right man to lead us up the table, while bringing excitement back to the club with an attacking style. He is excited about taking in training straight away and installing his own vision on the squad.”