Jose Mourinho warmed up for Sunday's Carling Cup Final
against Arsenal by boasting that he is one of the greatest managers
in the world and that he would never quit Chelsea.
Mourinho's pledge to stay will come as the perfect tonic for the
club's fans after a season when his future has been the subject of
intense speculation. But the former Porto boss insists he will
remain at the club until the end of this contract in 2010 or until
Chelsea sack him.
Mourinho declared: "There are only two ways for me to leave
Chelsea. One way is in June 2010. I finish my contract then, and if
the club does not give me a new one, it is the end of my contract
and I am out. "The second way is for Chelsea to sack me, because
there is not a third way - the way the manager decides to leave and
walks away. No chance! "I would never do this to Chelsea supporters
- no chance."
Mourinho has had more than a few conflicts with his Arsenal
counterpart Arsene Wenger since he arrived as coach at Stamford
Bridge in the summer of 2004. The pair were sniping at each other
in the build-up to this weekend's showdown at Cardiff's Millennium
Stadium.
Wenger claims that a coach can still be considered great if he has
not won the Champions League, and while Mourinho agrees with his
sentiments, the Chelsea chief insists his own overall record in the
game makes him one of the greatest.
