The entertaining, witty football personality is an endangered species. The days are numbered for men at the top the football club who speak their minds. Soon, they will be replaced by bland, lifeless apparitions.
This became all the more apparent after Real Madrid manager José Mourinho was handed yet another touchline ban for voicing his disdain towards European football governing body UEFA, following his side’s 2–0 Champions League semi-final defeat at the hands of arch-rivals Barcelona.
After the match, Mourinho said that it was ‘impossible’ for his side to defeat the conspirators lined up against them, and insinuated that Barcelona’s success in the Champions League was down to a great deal of help from UEFA.
He went on: “I hope one day [Barcelona manager Josep] Guardiola has the chance of winning a brilliant, clean championship with no scandal.”
This was part of an extended spray in which Mourinho questioned a series of dubious refereeing decisions that had gone against his side in seasons past.
And right on cue, the self-titled ‘Special One’ was lambasted in the press by both ‘friend’ and foe alike. Former Real Madrid President Ramón Calderón labelled Mourinho’s comments after game as “harmful” to the club.
Swiss national coach Ottmar Hitzfeld described Mourinho as “arrogant” and “boorish”. Journalist after journalist echoed these words in spiteful columns. UEFA, meanwhile, slapped a five match touch-line ban on the outspoken manager.
No doubt Mourinho is conceited, egotistical and opinionated. He is football’s Kanye West. Even so, football would be pretty dull without Mourinho and his ilk. Mourinho is one of the few unique, charismatic characters in world sport.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is something of a kindred spirit. The Scot has always spoken his mind —, and has been fined thousands of pounds and weeks’ worth of suspensions for his troubles.
Derby, Leeds and Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough was another example. In a career spanning the 1960s to the 1990s, Clough was in a near-constant battle with the English Football Association, the media and, at times, his own club.
Yet the man was adored by the fans in the stadiums and revered for being as great a character as he was football manager.
Similarly, Mourinho’s name would often be heard chanted on the terraces at Stamford Bridge back in his days as Chelsea manager, and is now heard within the Santiago Bernabéu; such admiration was previously unheard of for a Madrid manager.
While Mourinho, Ferguson and Clough have all been accused of being sore losers or unnecessarily critical all three have (or had) sparkling, successful managerial careers.
Clough took the lowly second division Nottingham Forest from obscurity to back to back European Cups. No other Briton has won more trophies than Sir Alex Ferguson. José Mourinho is the only manager to guide four different clubs to the semi-finals of the Champions League — as well as winning it with two.
All the talk is backed up by what the fans want to see, on-field success.
But Mourinho and his peers are becoming rarer by the day. Governing bodies like UEFA, the FA and even the AFL in Australia sanction anyone who steps out of line and criticises them. The sport itself is at great risk of becoming plastic and stale.
Former AFL player Jason Akermanis was never afraid to speak his mind — often to his own detriment. Akermanis’ comments about coach Leigh Matthews in 2005 led to his departure from Brisbane, and there were many other instances that followed.
Most notable was an article he wrote in the Herald Sun in May 2010 that suggested gay footballers should stay in the closet because their sexual orientation wouldn’t be accepted within their club.
The article was intended to highlight Akermanis’ belief of the present culture of homophobia around the AFL clubs. Instead, Akermanis was labelled a homophobe. The column fueled his eventual dismissal from the Western Bulldogs. But all he did was offer his opinion, which was seen as controversial, thus the hierarchy and press chastised him.
Ultimately, what would football fans prefer to read or listen to: the monotonous drone of a coach regurgitating the same weekly phrases about ‘taking it one week at a time’ and ‘getting the basics right’, or someone who speaks their mind whether their opinions are popular or not?
Love him or hate him, football — and sport — needs people like José Mourinho.
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