Sulky One Mourinho turns Inter and Italy against him
The Sulky One, as he must be known as from now on, didnâÂÂt taken long to turn a country against him.
Yes, surprise surprise, Jose Mourinho and Italy donâÂÂt mix.
First, he made disparaging remarks about Claudio Ranieri, then he belittled an official from another club and has fallen out with just about every local commentator he has spoken to or at, depending where you stand.
Not content with that, even Inter fans are growing tired of his macho stand-offs and seething from the touchline.
The Nerazzurri fans are a surly bunch at the best of times and are known to boo and lambast their own players just because they can and it passes the time.
You got the feeling that secretly they were disappointed when Julio Cruz popped up with that last-gasp winner last Sunday thus spoiling a perfectly good occasion to jeer the team off the pitch.
Cruz denies Inter fans the chance to have a good whinge
However, the Portuguese came to the rescue by raising his finger to expel a massive âÂÂshushâ in the direction of the main stand where everyone had suddenly found their happy feet.
Coming over all paranoid and sounding like a totally unreliable defendant in the dock, the pouty one claimed he was having a little joke with one of his former players Costinha, who was ribbing him that Inter had forgotten how to score.
Of course, the press were having none of it but any further cross-examination was quickly curtailed when Jose stomped off into the fading afternoon light muttering something about âÂÂmoney-sheiksâ or was it âÂÂmilkshakes?âÂÂ
Leaving aside reports, rumours or whatever concerning Manchester City and bags of money, will Mourinho last the course in Italy anyway?
ItâÂÂs more likely the press and media in general will bring him down before the likes of Milan, Juventus or Napoli do.
There are three national papers dedicated to sport, which means football.
ThereâÂÂs no getting away from the post and pre-game press conference, the once a week sit-down with the print media.
Then there are all those statistics that have to be poured over and analysed to death â being a Serie A coach is like swotting for exams, day after day, and knowing you will never go to university.
By now they have probably got him waking up at night screaming that he canâÂÂt remember the last time Inter enjoyed so much possession when the ball was thrown out by the goalkeeper from the left side of the area.
"Jeez, and I thought the English media were a bunch of ã$%&@..."
WouldnâÂÂt it be a good time to adopt a new façade?
Many a tactic is out there to be copied: the Carlo Ancelotti raised eyebrow in a Roger Moore-esque manner followed by mumbling, the Luciano Spalletti cough to gain valuable time, or ramble on like Claudio Ranieri until everyone forgets what the question was in the first place and prays that you will just stop.
Of course, what he should have done in the first place was not have been such a show-off when it came to speaking Italian, unlike the larger than life Fatih Terim.
During his year and a bit spell at Fiorentina and then Milan the, at times emotional, but ever-lovable Turk only spoke in the infinitive leaving one and all mystified and therefore unwilling to engage in anything more taxing than, âÂÂYour team played well/badly.âÂÂ
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The answer was either âÂÂTo play well, yes, to be pleased, yes,â or âÂÂTo play badly, yes, not to be pleased, yes.âÂÂ
Smiles all round and off the happy journos could go to file their copy although you just knew dear old Fatih was the smartest man in the room.
If only Jose had thought of that before, then his life in Italy would be so much more enjoyable.
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