Anyone who googled "Inter Milan" post their ousting from the UEFA Champions League would have found one post match review to a hundred news articles on a certain somebody venting his anger on a certain nobody by the use of "physical assault."
After being outclassed by the reigning champions Manchester United last week in the second leg of Round of 16 Champions League clash, Inter coach, Jose Mourinho, hogged the headlines owing to his alleged punch-in-the-face of a United supporter at Old Trafford, within hours after the match.
Famous for his fragile temperament and snappy demeanour, Mourinho apparently attacked a United fan (with the versions changing from "punched" to "mildly slapped") who had screamed something in the lines of "You’re not special anymore" and "Go home, Mourinho", whilst the Portuguese was being interviewed by the press.
Hardly surprising...after all, the chant had been ringing in his ears for a tedious hour and half inside the Theater of Dreams.
And who wouldn't want to punch such moronic fanatics, the sight of whom sporting a Red jersey, singing "Viva Ronaldo, Viva Ronaldo, Running down the wing..." at the top of their voice while mowing their lawn is enough to boil the blood of anyone who was not "born" United.
The "unfortunate victim" went straight to the Greater Manchester Police to file a complaint on this unbecoming act by the man who is widely acknowledged "a tantrum merchant."
Whether this is just a fib by a few conceited United fans to rub salt to injury or it is a conscious act by the celebrated coach is still being investigated.
Either way, the incident has only benefited the Inter locker room...that is, until and unless their boss gets handcuffed for this "grave crime!"
Because, on hindsight, this has been a Mourinho pattern: the paranoid attitude, the indulgence in epic theories of conspiracy against his team by the refs, the rude behavior to opposition fans, which more often than not ends up the story of the encounter, the slapstick remarks like "Intellectual prostitution" post a lost match...in a nutshell, diverting the direction to himself and in this way, never letting his Team or star player be singled out by the media to attribute the loss.
Roman Abramovich may feel this means the manager is getting bigger than the club, but a far more realistic reasoning may be that this is Jose's immensely clever and singular way of shielding his players from outlandish criticism.
At the ripe age (for a manager) of 46, he is no newbie to the world of sophistication of controversy...rather, a veteran at the art of dealing with it. He knows his job better than anyone. And he does it alone.
And pretty much everyone has played into his hands.
The Italian press and fans, with whom Mourinho has already managed to estrange himself in his short stint, have lashed out at the boss of the Nerazzurri for his "failed" tenure.
Yet, in their excitement in chasing Mourinho, they have naturally forgotten to highlight the fact that their star Inter players had looked like boys in front of the class of the English teams, something a coach can hardly be blamed for.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic could easily have been stripped and scrutinised for his less than stellar show, Adriano could well have been drilled for managing nothing better than trying to rock the woodwork. But the media and fans have had words only for the manager.
If anything, the Punch brawl has only helped his team and players to disappear comfortably under the radar, recover from the Champions League disappointment and turn their focus back to the Scudetto, which is all but won by now...this while the manager has let himself be made a pie of.
There is nothing sacrificial about this; he has been there, done that, and has no qualms in doing it again.
The catty Mourinho refused to comment on the allegations except calmly to claim that:
"Mourinho sells plenty and everyone knows this."
Sure and perhaps, no one better than the man himself.
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