Jose Mourinho has warned Chelsea he would be prepared to take charge of another English club if he is shown the Stamford Bridge door for a second time, writes Martin Lipton in Lisbon.
Mourinho headed home to Portugal for the Champions League group game with Sporting Lisbon with his Blues three points clear of the pack.
But the Special One went trophy-less last season for the first time in his four completed seasons in SW6, aware that the Blues board declared just landing the FA Cup and League Cup Double in 2007 was ‘’not good enough’’.
Despite his blistering unbeaten start, the Portuguese accepts the heat is on him to deliver in what has always been his ‘’lucky’’ campaign – he won the title in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain in his second season.
And while Mourinho insisted he wanted to stay at Chelsea for as long as possible, he made a point of not dismissing the prospect of pitching up at Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool or Arsenal if he falls out with Roman Abramovich.
Asked if he could ever manage a team in England other than Chelsea, Mourinho replied: ‘’If it had to be, yes.
‘’My priority will always be Chelsea and I never think about the interest of others.
‘’But I know football and know I won’t be here five, eight, ten years if I don’t manage to win. Of course not.
‘’That’s not my essence as a coach, because I don’t like to live in those comfort zones. It doesn’t fit my personality.
‘’I will only leave when they want me to leave. There’s no other country, club or investment that motivates me. I will only leave when Mr Abramovich calls me to tell me it’s over.
‘’Only on that day will I look for other solutions. But to answer the question, I will say that when I have to think about the matter, then we’ll see.’’
Mourinho, without Didier Drogba for tonight’s game, with Loic Remy likely to lead the line instead of hamstring-troubled Diego Costa, suggested that the Premier League might be the most likely source of the silverware he needs this term.
‘’My dream is that the Champions League Final is Chelsea against any one of the other 31 teams,’’ he added. ‘’I don’t mind which. I dream of playing it!
‘’But I don’t think we are the favourites. The quality of the squads of the two big Spanish clubs and of Bayern puts them on a higher dimension.
‘’And the English teams are squeezed into the maximum of domestic competitions, not only because of the characteristics of the games themselves but also because of their scheduling. Next month no European team will do what we will do: play Sunday and Tuesday.’’
Source: Mirror
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