Barnsley ticked all the boxes for new boss Morais
BARNSLEY head coach Jose Morais has revealed that he passed up several opportunities to return to football over the past 13 months to wait for the right challenge – which he believes to have found at Oakwell.
The 52-year-old – part of Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho’s coaching staff during his successful earlier spells at Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Chelsea – had been out of the game since leaving Greek outfit AEK Athens last January.
The Portuguese utilised his time during his break from coaching to further broaden his footballing knowledge, spending time observing training methods at Barcelona’s acclaimed La Masia youth academy, whose famous graduates include Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi.
After declining several positions, a return to English football at Barnsley, ticked all the right boxes for Morais, who takes charge for the first time in tonight’s relegation encounter at home to Burton Albion.
It is an exciting time in the Reds’ history after the recent takeover led by Chinese-American billionaire Chien Lee and US businessman Paul Conway.
Morais also confirmed that he sought the counsel of good friend and former associate Mourinho about his new post, with his compatriot backing his decision to join Barnsley and wishing him well in the ‘interesting challenge’ ahead.
Morais said: “I spoke with him (Mourinho) and he is a guy who knows things sometimes before everybody!
“He said: ‘I am really happy for you, it is an interesting challenge and I am with you’.
“I like English football and living life passionately is about seeing and living English football.
“The passion of the fans, the game and intensity and competition makes me feel this is my place.
“I had other opportunities; some of them were less interesting.
“I was also taking my time to do something different and trying things I could not try in all the years I was working. That was a fantastic time.
“I looked at leadership and formations and travelled around and spent at least three weeks at the La Masia at Barcelona – watching ideas that I like and some other things.
“This is the way I am – wanting to improve all the time.”
Given his assocation with Mourinho, it should come as no surprise that Morais was extremely fastidious in terms of completing his research on Barnsley before committing himself to the Reds project.
Morais was a guest of the club at the recent home game with Sheffield Wednesday and got a first-hand view of his new charges – seeing enough to convince him that Barnsley was a project that was worth taking on.
He said: “I have been looking for the opportunity to come back into English football and have followed the Premier League and the Championship for different reasons.
“They (Barnsley owners) spoke about the possibility of a vacancy here. When it came, I was interested and they contacted me.
“When they asked, I said: ‘Okay, let me try to know a bit more about the team and I will give you an answer very, very soon’.
“I decided to analyse the team and come and feel the atmosphere and the team playing live. After that, I made up my mind to go to an interview and speak with the people.
“I knew some details about Barnsley and players such as (John) Stones.
“It is a club that has sold some good players and I was here when the Portuguese Under-21 international team played a game here once.”
Morais has taken over a Reds side who face a potentially defining spell of three matches against a trio of relegation rivals, starting with this evening’s home game with Burton.
Visits to fellow strugglers Birmingham City and Hull City follow over the next week, with the need for Morais to hit the ground running being imperative.
Morais, who has signed an 18-month deal, added: “The goal that we have is to definitely make things better and make a certain amount of points to continue where we want to play in English football.
“We are competing in the Championship and that is what we expect to be doing next season.
“I see opponents of a certain size, not a big size. They are just an opponent.
“There are definitely very important games for us coming up in order to achieve what we want. They are very big opportunities for us to achieve what we want to achieve.”
Morais has already added two members to his backroom team in assistant head coach Dimas – a former Portuguese international midfielder who played for Benfica and Juventus – and ex-Sheffield Wednesday coach Joao Cunha, who joins as physical coach.
The passion of the fans and the intensity makes me feel this is my place. New Barnsley head coach, Jose Morais, is excited about the challenge ahead.