People annoy me, they really do.
Cast your mind back 12 months. Jose Mourinho was the epitome of
everything that was wrong with the modern game, that he is
arrogant, smug, over-confident and disrespectful. He was booed
non-stop and everybody hated him. Chants of 'F*ck off Mourinho'
cascaded down from the stands. Opposition fans despised him and
told us the reason they hated us was because of him. The press
launched hatchet-job after hatchet-job designed to unsettle and
disturb him and by the end of his time with us the knives were out
in a big way.
Referees, managers, players and pundits were all united in their
dislike for the Portuguese, with an honest few accepting that he
was a talented manager, but eventually agreeing with the rest that
he was an arrogant pig and that he should not be allowed to get up
to the petty mind games and mud-slinging that brings the game into
disrepute. Anyone not following Chelsea absolutely hated him. The
press greeted Man United's title win with massive glee and cheer
not because United had won it but because the hated Mourinho
hadn't. In short - he was the walking embodiment of everyone's
bitterness and hatred of Chelsea and of people who are the very top
of their profession. The people of this fine nation we live in
cannot accept success. You just cannot stand him can you?
Especially when Jose Mourinho is smarter, better looking, funnier,
has women going weak at the knees over him, is already one of the
all time great football managers, has won everything going, and is
considerably better paid than you. Considerably better paid.
Fast-forward to the present. Jose has left Chelsea and now he is
everyone's favourite, the people's choice no less, for the England
job, recently vacated by the haplessly hopeless Steve McLaren.
Suddenly everyone forgets all the spittle, bile, abuse, slander,
vitriol and mis-reporting. Suddenly everyone forgets that he was
the epitome of all that is wrong with football. Suddenly everyone
forgets how much they hated him because they want him to be a good
manager for England.
Then you have the Liverpool fans who were certainly the most vocal
in their abuse and hatred of Jose, all now desperate to get him in
to replace the hopelessly hapless Rafa Benitez.
The hypocracy of this country never fails to astound me.
