Jose Mourinho: The "Special" Successor?

(Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

My first recollection of Jose Mourinho was just after I had been at my friends house during the week, winding down after a long day at school. Entering my home around nine, I remember hearing my family laughing and jeering at the television. I had forgotten that Manchester United had been playing in the Champion's League semi-final.

Allow me to explain: My father is a Chelsea fan, my mother is a Tottenham fan, and my sister an Arsenal fan. The only time we ever agreed in club football was when Manchester United lost.

I myself being a Chelsea fan, rushed into the front room to find out what had happened. I got there just in time to see the scoreline that confirmed United would not be in the final. However, the image that really stays with me the most is that of Jose Mourinho.

The first time I saw him was ironically an image of the back of his head; he was striding down the tunnel, followed by the camera, extravagantly pointing his fingers either side of him, celebrating the amazing feat he and his team had just accomplished.

I then remember the media's reaction to him was to label him as being somewhat arrogant and lucky. From what I remember of the highlights, Manchester United were beaten quite fairly and most definitely squarely.

The critics had lost their voices when Porto went on to win the Champion's League final.

The rest, as they say, is history.

All the Manchester united fans who treated him with sheer hatred when he was Chelsea's manager are singing songs of Jose Mourinho becoming either the next England manager, or indeed the successor to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

Whilst he is doing a very good job at Inter Milan, I worry that his time is shortly to come to an end. He has them on course to winning Serie A for the fourth consecutive season.

However, many will say that Roberto Mancini could quite easily have masterminded another league triumph as he masterminded the first three.

What I keep hearing from people in the know is that Mourinho was brought in to compete in the Champion's League. Having gone out in the last sixteen, albeit to a very strong United side, the board will (apparently) point to him for the failure to finish top in their group, which would have allowed them to avoid teams with such quality at such an early stage of the competition. 

If he finishes with Inter at the end of the season, will Alex Ferguson take the opportunity to step aside and allow Mourinho to fill his shoes? He has heaped praise on Mourinho (albeit mostly since he left Chelsea), and Alex is always one to drop hints but never confirm anything. Mourinho has said he would expect to be considered as Sir Alex's Replacement when he leaves.

Being a lifelong Chelsea fan, this would be a nightmare for me if he was employed as United's next manager.

But knowing Mourinho, he would like the idea of being considered for the United job, but he would love even more to turn them down (as he basically did with the England job).

He has said on many occasions this year he still has a great deal of love for Chelsea and the fans. One of his closest friends is Didier Drogba, and many other members of the Chelsea squad such as Lampard, Terry, Carvalho, the list goes on. 

He has even admitted it would not surprise him if he found himself managing Chelsea in the future, and that he even likes the idea. 

I think he would prefer to wait until a vacancy in West London opens up. 

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