Mourinho

“As a younger coach, I really admired the teams he built at Chelsea, in particular.

“He is definitely a visionary – someone that broke the mould in terms of how you manage in different ways to do things, and then following his success through different clubs, leagues. Incredible, really, what he’s achieved in his career.

“It’s always a great opportunity for any club to go up against one of his teams. I’m looking forward to the challenge immensely and I think it’s going to be a great game.”

Mourinho considers himself “a little Magpie” on account of his bond with former Newcastle manager Sir Bobby Robson.

The Portuguese shadowed Sir Bobby at Sporting Lisbon, Porto and Barcelona as an interpreter and assistant in the 1990s.

Mourinho has spoken glowingly about Newcastle over the years and said he “loved” the club before this game.

“I have heard Jose’s words about Newcastle and I absolutely echo them myself,” Howe said.

“They are great words about Sir Bobby and the role he played in his career. That’s really nice to hear, but the line stops tomorrow.

“When the game kicks off, we want to win. We are desperate for the points. It will be a competitive game between two great clubs.”

Newcastle lost 2-1 to Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday and will run a late check on influential midfielder Sandro Tonali, who is suffering from illness.

“We will give him every opportunity,” Howe said. “He wasn’t there at training today and he’s such an important player, so we will use all the hours we have.”

Those at the top at Barcelona initially wanted someone with club connections to be Sir Bobby’s assistant, but he insisted it had to be Mourinho.

For good reason.

Sir Bobby was walking into a divided club following the departure of legendary manager Johan Cruyff and needed someone he trusted implicitly, who could help get his message across in another foreign language.

By this stage, Mourinho’s role had long since evolved.

He helped out on the training ground. He produced scouting dossiers on the opposition that Sir Bobby rated as the best he had ever seen. Crucially, he was used to dealing with international players.

In a testing environment, the pair complemented each other once again as midfielder Guillermo Amor explained.

“They managed to create a good atmosphere and make a very strong team,” he said.

“Jose had more contact with the players due to his fluency in the language and his age, which was very similar to ours.

“He had great respect for Bobby and Bobby had great faith in everything Jose could do on the field and in the locker room.”

Sir Bobby went on to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup, the Copa Del Rey and the Spanish Cup in what proved to be his final season with Mourinho before the Barcelona manager was moved upstairs and replaced by Louis van Gaal.

Mourinho told Sir Bobby he wanted to leave out of loyalty but his mentor convinced him to stay, having already briefed van Gaal about the merits of keeping his assistant.

Had Mourinho not spent three further three years at the Nou Camp under van Gaal, the Portuguese could well have followed Sir Bobby to Newcastle in 1999.

Instead he went it alone – but Sir Bobby’s influence lives on.

To this day, Mourinho cherishes those moments the pair’s families shared in Sitges, the meals Sir Bobby never let him pay for and the lessons he taught him about life.

It is why the 62-year-old considers himself a “little Magpie”.

“The club up there know how much love and respect I have for them,” he told CBS earlier this month. “I learned that love from Mr Robson.”

It is the Mourinho who spent an age talking to another long-term Chelsea employee Thresa Conneely on Monday, the one who chatted to his former player Joe Cole after arriving 90 minutes before kick-off, relaxed with his arm draped on the one-time England star’s shoulder as he engaged in easy conversation. The one who stopped and signed a young Chelsea fan’s shirt before he headed to the dressing room for his pre-match team talk.

“Of course I thank them,” said Mourinho, when asked of the supporter reaction.

“I did it on the pitch. I live around here. I talk with them every day on the street.

“I hope to come back here [Stamford Bridge] in 20 years with my grandkids.

“They [Chelsea] belong to my history and I belong to theirs.”

Yet Mourinho wants to win. You could tell that as he challenged decisions and demanded more from his players, patrolling the touchline as he has always done.

It seemed odd to hear him talk about how well his team had played in defeat, even if the odds were stacked against them by the huge gap in income between England’s Champions League contenders and those from Portugal.

He sat in the same dugout as when he was manager, though it does make you wonder why the club waited for Mauricio Pochettino to change them given what is now the home dugout straddles the halfway line.

It did mean he was nearer the Benfica fans though, as he produced another classic Mourinho moment in the second half.

Chelsea might have paid the Lisbon club a British record £107m to sign Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez two years ago, but the money clearly has no bearing on how his old club’s supporters think about him.

As he went to take a corner, Fernandez was bombarded by missiles from the upper and lower sections of the stands around him.

Mourinho saw what was happening, bounced out of his seat and took off down the touchline – a reminder of when he was Porto manager at Old Trafford and celebrated knocking Manchester United out of the Champions League in 2004.

The knee slide is beyond him now. Instead, he kept himself to angry waves, telling those supporters to stop.

They might not all have acted as he wished but the bombardment at least reduced long enough for Fernandez to take the corner.

Jose the peacemaker. Jose the friend.

Benfica didn’t win – and Chelsea weren’t that good – but Mourinho’s return was memorable all the same.

There will always be mutual respect around here.

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United manager only joined the Turkish football giants in June 2024.

Fenerbahce have sacked Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho, two days after elimination from the Champions League playoffs by Benfica, the Turkish club said in a statement.

“We have parted ways with Jose Mourinho, who served as head coach of our professional A team since the 2024-2025 season. We thank him for his efforts for our team and wish him success in his future career,” Friday’s statement said.

The former Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Roma coach, who arrived at the Istanbul club in June 2024, led Istanbul’s Yellow Canaries to second place in the league last season behind Galatasaray, failing to end their title drought.

The 62-year-old has had several setbacks during his time in Istanbul. In April, he grabbed the face of Okan Buruk, the coach at fierce local rivals Galatasaray, after a 2-1 defeat in the Turkish Cup quarterfinals, tweaking his nose.

He was fined for comments made after another explosive derby match against Galatasaray in which he also repeated criticism of Turkish referees, accusing the fourth referee of bias. His remarks were judged as “contrary to sporting ethics”.

Jose Mourinho has been sacked by Fenerbahce after just over a year in charge.

The Portuguese’s departure comes two days after the Turkish club were eliminated from the Champions League play-offs by Benfica.

In a statement, Fenerbahce said Mourinho had “parted ways” with the club, before thanking the 62-year-old for his efforts and wishing him well. A club official later confirmed to the BBC that he had been sacked.

Mourinho, who has managed 10 clubs including Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham, guided Fenerbahce to second in the league during his sole season in charge, but his tenure was punctuated by controversy.

Champions Galatasaray said they would “initiate criminal proceedings” against Mourinho, after accusing him of making “racist statements” following a 0-0 draw in February.

Mourinho denied the allegations, saying he is the “opposite” of racist, and filed a lawsuit against the club seeking damages worth 1,907,000 Turkish Lira (£41,000).

Mourinho was a frequent critic of the standard of officiating in Turkey, and was handed a four-match ban – later reduced to two matches – for his comments about referees after the match against Galatasaray.

MANCHESTER United fans and neutrals alike have revisited a video of Jose Mourinho from last year as evidence that he could be on his way back to Old Trafford.

The tongue-in-cheek comments about a return on social media come off the back of the Red Devils’ embarrassing Carabao Cup exit to League Two outfit Grimsby on Wednesday.

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The iconic manager made comments last October hinting that he would be open to a return to a bottom-half Premier League side, after his Fenerbahce side secured a draw in the Europa League AGAINST Man Utd.

He told the press: “The best thing I have to do is – when I leave Fenerbahce – I go to a club that doesn’t play Uefa competitions.

“So if any club in England, from the bottom of the table, needs coach in two years – I am ready to go.

Fans across the English game this window have jumped on the bandwagon, with Leeds, West Ham, Wolves and Utd fans all linking themselves to the manager through the video on social media.

One United fan succinctly commented on the post: “So Mourinho is going back to Man Utd, innit?”

Fans are split on the Portuguese, who already spent two years at the helm at Old Trafford between 2016-18, but at least some of the Red Devils faithful would be open to the move.

Speaking on the players, one X user commented: “None of them can manage the pressure and the culture of winning. We just need Jose Mourinho back.”

Fans of other clubs have also been circling around the old clip as it circulates on X.

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One Leeds fan commented:” “I don’t care if he got us relegated, this needs to happen.”

A Hammers fan added: “Feel like Mourinho and West Ham would be pure entertainment. Let it happen, fate.”

Man Utd ratings v Grimsby

MANCHESTER UNITED are at rock bottom after the biggest cup upset saw the club crash out of the Carabao Cup second-round to League Two Grimsby Town on penalties.

Ruben Amorim’s United lost to a four-tier side for the first time ever.

The home fans sang “you’re getting sacked in the morning” to Amorim throughout and you can’t help but wonder if they’re right.

Here’s how SunSport’s Katherine Walsh rated United’s flops at Blundell Park.

The beloved maverick was even linked with the Nottingham Forest job last week after news emerged of Nuno Espirito Santo‘s falling out with the club.

The 62-year-old’s CV includes spells at Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter Milan, becoming one of the sport’s most successful managers.

He is currently causing his signature chaos as manager of Turkish giants Fenerbahce.