LAY OFF SOCIAL MEDIA, JOSE, AND LET SPURS DO THEIR TALKING ON THE PITCH

YOU have to admit, Jose Mourinho is decent value on Instagram, if you like that sort of thing.

After the hard-fought win at Burnley recently, he posted a photograph of the victorious dressing room, his players engrossed in their mobile phones.

“Sign of the times,” he wrote, like some sort of exasperated dad.

Mourinho is not alone in making himself front and centre of most of his social media missives.

That is what it is about for most people, after all.

In the days following the eventful draw with West Ham, Mourinho put up a picture of himself holding three Europa League footballs.

“3 balls,” he mused. “The 3 goals we conceded against West Ham? The 3 amazing goals we scored against them?

Or the 2 Europa Leagues I have in the pocket and the 3rd one I am ready to fight for?”

Mourinho’s readiness to tell us what he has won in his glittering career is longstanding but never ceases to jar.

He follows managerial suit in swearing by a team ethic but it always goes hand in hand with a chronicle of his personal achievements.

There is a very funny impressionist out there by the name of Conor Moore. He has the world’s top golfers off to a tee and has recently dipped into football.

And not only is his impersonation of Mourinho good, his script is spot-on.

“At half- time, it was Jose Mourinho 3 West Ham 0, fulltime Tottenham Hotspur 3 West Ham 3.”

Or words to that effect.

And there isn’t anyone in football who would not nod knowingly.

When the team is doing reasonably well, as Spurs – despite the defeat in Belgium last week – are, then it is pretty harmless stuff.

But whether the players saw the funny side of his

Instagram post following the 1-0 reverse in Antwerp is open to debate.

Sat next to his familiar monogrammed leather manbag – JM loves a monogram – Mourinho wrote: “Bad performances deserve bad results. Hope everyone in this bus is as upset as I am. Tomorrow 11AM training.”

Presumably, he had already told his players in person that they were being hooked in for a naughty- boy session the next day but, even so, this smacked of treating them a little like kids.

The implication is that everyone won’t be as upset as he is by the defeat. Again, it is hardly the crime of the century, but his players get hassled enough on social media by the thousands of keyboard warriors out there, without their manager joining in.

Dele Alli might say otherwise, but it is too early to identify significant cracks in the relationship between Mourinho and some of his players.

Indeed, several seem to be thriving under his stewardship and Mourinho is actually having to dampen title optimism in some quarters.

But who would be surprised if this sort of public criticism – via his new favoured Instagram vehicle – was the beginning of a familiar pattern?

Let’s hope not. A vibrant Spurs under Mourinho would be a tasty ingredient in a title race.

So maybe Jose should leave the trolling to someone else.

Mourinho’s readiness to tell us what he has won in his glittering career is long-standing but never ceases to jar