When Jose Mourinho was sacked on Tuesday 18th December 2018 at 8.45am, there was a collective sigh of relief. If football was about creating a corporate match-up, winning trophies and maintaining the visibility of the brand profile; He should have been the perfect appointment. So, from the Glazer/Woodward perspective it was, until August 2018, a successful piece of business. But, the football is the real oxygen that drives everything and to be blunt, the deterioration of the team before our very eyes was so alarmingly poor that it felt like a cancerous tumour had invaded the whole institution. Yes! It really was THAT bad.
Any Premier League squad that possesses a forward line-up containing Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard, Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku and Paul Pogba should never have struggled in this fashion, and with negative goal difference too. What did Mourinho actually achieve in 2017 to earn that second improved contract in January 2018? Only those who sanctioned can answer that one; and one feels that an appearance on camera (and I do not mean Man Utd TV) from somebody senior is overdue; if only to explain why after such a contract extension he was then not granted his wish to sign further players during the summer window. Rational thinking was clearly absent, without leave. In many respects, Jose Mourinho was within his rights to be unhappy but, the tue reality is that the atmosphere became embarassingly toxic during that promotional tour in the United States and specifically, his ill-judged comments regarding the attendees at an exhibition match was a huge insult to the club's vast international fan base. Under David Gill or Martin Edwards, such sabotage to the club's great name and pedigree would never have been tolerated. With the traditional third season Jose red mist looming everyone predicted trouble, and everyone, sadly was proved to be correct.
But, why did it all go so badly wrong for this serial winner? The answer simply was his ego. The infrastructure of Manchester United at Carrington is excellent but the swift emergence of neighbours Manchester City as a significant force on and off the pitch has clearly rattled what is becoming widely known as the Ed Woodward era. However, Jose Mourinho spent significant funds including a World Record fee (at the time) for Paul Pogba but still failed to energise his unit. Foolishly, he was distracted by his failure to control the media agenda; something that he had masterfully done in his earlier days but that monster has become a huge and uncontrollable voracious beast and a wiser older Mourinho should have been savvy enough to keep his head beneath the battlements and do his real talking on the training ground. After all, he is rightfully still highly lauded as a coach and even in this ill-fated existence, there are numerous examples of tactical brilliance and courage within the debris of disappointment and frustration. Touch-line reporters on the BBC payroll will remind us all that Sir Alex Ferguson chose, despite the threat of fines, to avoid all media interviews...and he retired as winner of the Premier League.
Elite Premier League Footballers are still, in the main, highly paid, naive, immature working class children who need firm but understanding leadership. Somehow, the mandate to create an environment with these individuals became compromised when he signed Paul Pogba; a genuine superstar sportsman. Mourinho could not live with the profile of this individual because it relegated him to the wings of the big stage. His other huge mistake was to enter any debate about his achievements as a coach in comparison to his rivals Jurgen Klopp, Maurizio Pochettino and Pep Guardiola. The late Sir Bobby Robson once told me that the hardest job in football was dealing with the media NOT the players. A cursory glance at his record reminds us that he managed some of the biggest players in World football in his stellar career at Ipswich, Barcelona, FC Porto and of course England; and remember, some of those headlines were brutal! Mourinho simply lost his way and failed to lead the players, who simply struggled to execute their considerable talent any longer. His refusal to play Pogba at Liverpool on Sunday 16th December, when the team were crying out for a simple moment of inspiration, was the final straw and he was history. There are suspicions that once his assistant Rui Faria departed, he gave up and decided to have an extended break at the Lowry Hotel whilst awaiting for the axe to fall and his pay-off to be concluded.
I have pondered why the coming of the axe was so long and painful. Defeats to Brighton and Tottenham in August were awkward to watch and I questioned his right to remain with my personal trainer Joe at the time; his response reluctantly was for the manager to be given time despite hos obvious frustration with the palying style and painful failure. I recall Saturday 29th September, with no wedding to play for a change, my priority was to enjoy the excellent commentary on Radio 5 Live! with some Fish and Chips. As West Ham defeated Manchester United at the London Stadium immediately after the midweek loss at home to Derby County on penalties in the third round of the Caraboa Cup, objectively my conclusion was that Mourinho had long given up the fight and was wearily waiting to be sacked. Many people point to his Champions League victory in Turin, against Juventus on Wednesday 7th November as a moment of salvation but for me he knew he was clearly yesterday's man by then; hence the outrageous celebrations at the final whistle.
Moving on, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is a brilliant manager with the Carrington DNA and in time we will see those skills tested and perhaps he may be given the job permanently but for now, he simply has told that team 'to go and express themselves.' That is simply what they have done against Cardiff, Bournemouth, Huddersfield and Newcastle. My belief is that they will achieve a top 4 finish above Chelsea and Arsenal because in attack they are better than those teams; Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool have superior strength and stability in all areas except in the goal-keeping position.
Having watched United beat a dogged Newcastle United at St James' Park this week I felt more convinced about Solskjaer's suitability to Manchester United than any manager since Ferguson. The reality of him becoming anything permanent beyond the summer hinges on how he handles the two-legged tie against PSG in the Champions League on 12th February 2019. If he wins that contest, the pressure on the board to pay off Molde and make the job permanent will be deafening. He will have achieved something unheard of in the post-Ferguson era; a winning football team with the Red Devils DNA.
The longer I observe characters like Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs on television I am reminded that Manchester United are first and foremost a great football club albeit with a huge outreach. Tony Pulis said recently before his sacking at the Baggies (West Bromwich Albion) and his appointment at my 'Boro (Middlesbrough) that Football clubs belong to us the fans; players, managers and owners come and go. This weekend, many small regional clubs that win their F.A. Cup ties this weekend will want Manchester United at home because they possess the greatest aura of all football clubs; it guarantees a full house, Live TV coverage and a small taste of the razzmatazz. A flourishing Manchester United is, and should aspire to that once more.
Jose Mourinho is a great football manager and in time, he will prove himself once more but on this watch, he not only nearly destroyed a great team but mistakenly forgot that it was his privilege to excite the pathetic dreams of simple folk who live for their football fix at Sir Matt Busby Way.
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