DeanoAustin
Jimmy McCormick
I've been biting my tongue on responding to this point since he was appointed but I think being"a winner" is flimflam.
Is being a "winner" a lifetime ability or is it time limited? If it is for life, why does his "winning meteorology" only seem to work on minor competitions now? Should we consider the budgets and players that he had during his golden period or was it him being a "winner" that was the difference?
This isn't taking away from his record, he was at one point one of the greatest managers in the world and it stands up to anyone but is the Mourinho of the last ten years as good as the Mourinho of the preceding ten?
That's a fair post with some good points I think. I do think he is a winner not necessarily because it's a lifetime ability but because his record is bloody impressive and he just exudes charisma and confidence. He's also a nasty c**t when he loses. In the last 10 years he's won the PL, 2 league cups, La Liga, Cope del Rey, Europa League (if you include 2010 at Inter, you can add the CL, Coppa Italia and Serie A). He's been out of the game for a year and a half in that time albeit both absences were pretty much down to being fired twice.
At every club he's been at for the bones of twenty years he's won trophies. You could argue with United, where he only won "minor" trophies, that he had the worst side he'd ever managed and wasn't backed. I know at Tottenham, we'd have given our left arm for a Europa League for as long as I can remember. Jol, Poch, Harry, AVB, Ramos, Tactics Tim all failed to even threaten a win in that competition. Jesus, we'd probably have given our right arm for a league cup given that's all we've won in 29 years. You could also make a very strong argument that, at United, he's been by far the best manager they've had post-Fergie. Okay, the bar isn't high but it's a very difficult place to manage right now.
On the flip side, the fear is that football has passed him by. I don't buy it but nor would I discount it. He plays a brand of football unlike that of most top managers. But has Pep's style evolved much over the last 10 years? Because 10 years ago, Jose did him with Inter and then won the league with Madrid at the expense of Pep.
So you've raised some valid questions. Personally, I think he is a winner and I also don't believe that football has passed him by. But I could be wrong and time will tell. Either way, unless he's Merlin the fudging Magician, I don't see him getting 3 points this weekend.