Well, it was probably only a matter of time wasn’t it. AS Roma have finally parted company with firebrand manager Jose Mourinho.
The 60 year old’s spell at the club lasted only 929 days, but did include European glory, red cards, and very public fallings out with almost everyone he encountered. Whether that be owners, players, or the ever faithful match officials.
In his tenth role as a manager, and his second spell in Italy’s Serie A, Mourinho gave everyone pretty much what they had expected from him when he first took the job on and he definitely had his supporters in the Giallorossi, but his off pitch antics became more of a distraction, especially as their form started to falter and in amongst issues of poor discipline, it seems like another defeat to fierce rivals Lazio proved too much for the Board to overlook.
With success at the Stadio Olimpico and back to back sixth place finishes in the league, added to their European adventures, the club at one point looked like it was having a resurgence – however, long time followers of Mourinho’s career wondered what the third year would bring, as historically things always tend to go more quickly wrong at this stage of his spell at a club.
But his ability to galvanise sides has now made him one of the most successful managers in the European game, and he is in a small subset of gaffers who have tasted success at the highest levels of differing national leagues, and very few feel that Roma will be his last role in football – albeit it may potentially be the final time we see him at a club of their calibre with more serious ambitions of truly getting back to the big stage.
Whilst his departure may not be a surprise for many, it will come as a surprise to some given during the summer there were big doubts about whether or not he would even have a third year with them after the off pitch disagreements that took place, and the rumours that he had been offered the Paris Saint-Germain job.
It led to one of his best comments of the season.
“Three months ago the idea of me leaving was seen almost as a tragedy. I received the biggest and craziest offer a coach has ever received in the history of football. And I turned it down. Three months later, it seems like I’m the problem. I can’t accept that.”
Mourinho will still strongly believe that, he will probably compare himself to Harry Potter again in the future, but the struggles this season cannot be ignored.
