Mourinho's Notebook - The Season's End Shuffle & The Dogs of FIFA
The Season’s End Shuffle
No sooner does one season end, then the next one begins. For some that even includes games, as the likes of Chelsea and Tottenham are off for “post-season” friendlies in silly places (like Australia) all over the world. But for most, the early days of the season mean re-establishing motives and goals, reshuffling squads and sacking their managers.
“Here the demands are very high and we need to give Real Madrid a new push that allows us to reach the level that we want to be at” – Real Madrid President Florentino Perez
And so Carlo Ancelotti loses his job at Real Madrid despite a 75% winning record that includes the 2014 Champions League final. But, nah mate, you didn’t win a League title in two years and you only made the UCL semis this season, so see ya later chief. The demands at Real Madrid are, after all, very high. And who should be in line to replace the Italian? None other than cup specialist Rafa Benitez! Formerly of Liverpool and Chelsea and rumoured last week to West Ham. After being in contention for the Hammers’ job, it’s hard to imagine he doesn’t jump at the chance to tell Cristiano Ronaldo what to do for a living.
Meanwhile Jurgen Klopp says he won’t be taking a new gig for six months, fuelling talk that he was after the Liverpool hot seat, only for Brendan Rodgers to hold his own for now. But a poor start to next season and Klopp may get his chance.
Speaking purely English here, Fat Sam Allardyce was another to be given a helping hand out the door. His contract at West Ham was predictably not renewed, he says he’ll take a lil break. Dick Advocaat was in tears as he saved Sunderland from relegation two weeks back, but he’s announced that’ll be his final club job in management. He had it if he wanted it, but he declined. Manuel Pellegrini will survive to start another season at Man City, they’re quick on the trigger, but not quite as quick as Real Madrid, however the chances of interim boss John Carver lasting at Newcastle are about as likely as Mike Ashley taking a vow of poverty.
In fact, the Premier League was pleasantly lenient this season. We didn’t see an in-season managerial change until Neil Warnock’s firing at Crystal Palace on December 27 – the third longest wait in PL history.
Last 5 Champions League Winners
2010 – Inter Milan… Jose Mourinho immediately leaves to manage Real Madrid the next season.
2011 – Barcelona… Pep Guardiola goes on sabbatical after the following season.
2012 – Chelsea… Roberto Di Matteo wins the CL in May, is sacked in Novermber.
2013 – Bayern Munich… Jupp Heynckes had already been told that Pep Guardiola was replacing him at the conclusion of the season.
2014 – Real Madrid… Carlo Ancelotti goes trophy-less the following campaign (the World Club Cup & UEFA Super Cup don’t count) and loses his job for it.
It’s a poisoned chalice, friends.
FIFA, You Absolute Dogs
Corruption in FIFA!? Good Lord, no. Whoever woulda thunk it?
Okay, we all knew that this was the case, but something is now being done about it. The FBI was rumoured to be working on an anti-corrpution case against the global football body, and this week in Switzerland, a number of former and current FIFA officials were taken into custody on charges of fraud. They could each face up to 20 years imprisonment. The Swiss police have also opened an investigation into the voting processes that awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting rights.
And the tide’s really turning for Sepp Blatter. As head of the FIFA, he’s done what all heads of mafia organisations do and covered himself from all angles by having his henchmen take care of the dirty business. But he’s also a public figurehead, and with the elections happening any time now, this barrage of horrific press has actually jeopardised his candidacy. UEFA president Michel Platini is quoted as saying he now realistically believes that Blatter may lose the vote, something he didn’t feel the day before the raid. The Americans have said they will not vote for him, and Platini says UEFA may boycott the next World Cup if he wins.
Blatter spoke publically, refusing to resign and vowing to restore faith in FIFA. With a little luck he won’t get the chance.
One of the men implicated was a bloke by the name of Jose Marin, a former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation and now a federal senator. Here’s a little blast from the past into the kind of character that he is. Unsurprisingly, Latin America is now opening their own investigations into FIFA corruption.
But the most important thing to remember every time that the game’s governing body does something disgusting, corrupt and arrogant, is that they don’t own the game. They run the game and they get all the money but the game is free. Football belongs to the players on the pitch and the fans in the stand. To the bloke sneakily listening to the scores on the radio as he works, to the kids running barefoot through the streets after a tattered ball, to the parents and coaches that offer uncountable hours of their time for no financial reward to ensure that communities have teams for children and veterans alike. Football belongs to all those who can watch the game with the innocence and joy of a child, or the withered cynicism of an aging Tottenham fan. It belongs to those who care and those who love it. And certainly not to the greedy bastards in suits with dollar signs in their eyes.
#GoodLuckTim
BT Sport and Facebook teamed up this week to present the inaugural Facebook Football Awards, where the fans on social media were able to vote in a bunch of categories for a whole assortment of things. As far as the footballing side of it goes, the vote was clearly swamped by Arsenal fans, as Gunners’ players won a completely disproportionate number of awards.
It was all a silly fan-teasing idea, but they did have one great innovation. They gave an award to ‘Content of the Year’, where each club was given the opportunity to put forward their best social media effort this season. Some were clearly better than others, this Alexis Sanchez bit won the overall prize:
But also nominated were some other real classics. Manchester City had a good one with this:
West Ham went tongue in cheek with this bit of banter after Jose Mourinho’s ‘19th century football’ claims:
However none was more deserving (and ultimately more robbed) than Southampton’s Good Luck Tim campaign. After a Saints fan tweeted the club asking the name of the ‘unreal girl’ who sits four rows ahead of him, they couldn’t exactly give him his answer (for legal reasons) but they certainly did their bit to help him out – enlisting their mascot to play wingman! Check out the video:
Ultimately it appears that Tim did get the girl in the end, a beautiful story of love and fate…
(... Assuming that it wasn’t a publicity stunt or that they didn’t break up a week later, of course).
A Saucy Tackle
Aussie footballer and A-League stalwart John Hutchinson retired at the end of the season, and so as is customary for long serving players, he was granted a testimonial match by his Central Coast Mariners side. A testimonial match in which all hell broke loose when Brent Griffin was red carded for tackling a giant bottle of barbeque sauce. Folks, there are some sentences that a young journalist never thought they’d ever have to write, but the world is full of surprises.
Obviously, there was plenty more to this whole thing, but it’s funnier without full context.