Guardian article criticises Mourinho mercilessly

[1960]

Richard Williams, reviewing Chelsea's victory over Barca, spends over half his article crticising Mourinho's outbursts and general attitude. Relevant bit of the article below.

Journalists seem to be largelyon our side, or at least against Chelsea.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2006/ ... ear_t.html

Victory does little to clear the stain from Mourinho's reputation

Jose Mourinho's constant and wildy incorrect outbursts have permanently ruined his reputation.

Richard WilliamsOctober 19, 2006 01:54 AM

Dead right, Jose Mourinho. There are more important things than football. More important, even, than a Champions League match between Chelsea and Barcelona. Had last night's meeting been the final itself, what happened on the pitch would have seemed insignificant beside the business of Mourinho's complaints against Reading FC's medical staff and the Berkshire ambulance service following the injuries to Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini on Saturday.

One of the ambulance men who took Cech to hospital said yesterday: "Our reputation has been tarnished." He could hardly have been further from the truth. Only one reputation was tarnished in the aftermath of the unfortunate and regrettable injuries to Cech and Cudicini, and that belongs to Mourinho himself.

And this is, of course, a reputation that was discoloured long ago. The trouble with Mourinho's outbursts is that no objective outsider can now believe a word he says. After the unfounded suggestion that Frank Rijkaard visited the referee's room at half-time in the Nou Camp two seasons ago, and the much advertised 120-page dossier of alleged misbehaviour by Arsenal towards Chelsea, which turned out to be nothing more than a bunch of press cuttings, Chelsea's manager forfeited a great deal of his credibility. A bit more of it disappeared when he compared Stephen Hunt's collision with Cech to the notorious and heavily punished assaults committed in the last year by Michael Essien and Ben Thatcher, and the rest went over the horizon when he alleged that his No1 goalkeeper's transfer to hospital had been unnecessarily delayed, blaming everyone but his own medical staff.

Reading's response was notable for its precision and suffused with a controlled anger. Doubt had been cast on the integrity of their efforts on behalf of an injured man, and they were able to produce evidence in their own defence. Given the identity of their accuser, they had little trouble finding a sympathetic audience.

Deep within Mourinho's intemperate outburst, there could be a point worth making. It may well be that the medical facilities at English grounds in general are not all they might be, given the increasingly severe nature of the injuries being suffered by players who are fitter, faster and more muscled than ever. While their collisions are occurring at higher speeds and with greater force, their bones and joints are still of normal human specification. If that black night on Reading's pitch is to have any value, it will not be in a specific attack on individuals or a single club but in alerting the governing bodies for the need to monitor standards, just as the British Boxing Board of Control was galvanised by the bout that almost cost Michael Watson his life.

Mourinho's approach, however, is not the way to do it. Such wild accusations do greater damage to the accuser than than to the accused, and a gifted coach will have lost even more admirers outside the little world of Stamford Bridge.



Well, that's about it in Williams's opinion. Well said that man[/b]

[Ian Royal]

Another good article from the Guardian!

[bigmike]

we should keep copys of these compile a 120 page dossier and send it to the fa also cc chelsea

[M4 Junction 11]

need a Jose webpage. keep factual and feature some of the headlines

[West Stand Man]

The Torygraph has a similar line in its Sports Section feature today. Worth a look.

[1960]

Yes, pretty similar:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.j ... fntv19.xml

[Mr Irascible]

So, José, you believe that this was deliberate, do you? In that case we challenge you: try it

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 07,00.html

[phil in cornwall]

The Guardian blog is now getting very long with comments and opinions from all over the world.

I love the comment that Chelsea should sell one of their reserve players and buy a mobile hospital unit to follow them around.

Probably not a good idea to sell a goalkeeper though.

[Royalphil]

So, José, you believe that this was deliberate, do you? In that case we challenge you: try it

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 07,00.html

Good article... good point at the end, about not persuing JM concerning his comments!

[cmonurz]

"WE START the day with an aptitude test. First, find a piece of open land, at least 50 yards uninterrupted. Start running. Get up to full pelt, as fast as you can go, the sort of speed you would be looking to achieve if you were, for instance, a Reading midfield player who thought that he had a sniff at goal after 20 seconds against Chelsea. Are you there yet? Good. Now drop your knee.

Hello again. Were they nice at the hospital? I hope so."

[From Despair To Where?]

I love the comment that Chelsea should sell one of their reserve players and buy a mobile hospital unit to follow them around.

Excellent idea. Might I suggust a thorough ENT check up for starters, as half the squad appear to be suffering from a mystery inner ear infection that affects their balance.

[rotherwick_royal]

I love the comment that Chelsea should sell one of their reserve players and buy a mobile hospital unit to follow them around.

Excellent idea. Might I suggust a thorough ENT check up for starters, as half the squad appear to be suffering from a mystery inner ear infection that affects their balance.

Suggest their manager goes along too as he seems a little unbalanced.

[E. Andrew]

this might never end...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 80,00.html

[jimmy_jive]

need a Jose webpage. keep factual and feature some of the headlines

Im not bitter - but mabey a blog from one of you diehards.