Football Food For Thought / Dan Fitch / 18 December 2007 /

Dan "The Betting Man" Fitch shows his disappointment at Mourinho turning down the England job and speculates as to where he will go next

When England wanted a new manager, the FA went after the best that they could get. A coach who had won league titles in two different countries and had triumphed in the Champions League. A snappy dresser, whose demeanour screams authority and would never get caught looking a tit, whilst mucking about with an umbrella. A man with meticulous attention to detail and a philosopher. Above all, the FA wanted a winner.

Unfortunately for the FA, Jose Mourinho turned England down and we got lumbered with some bloke called Capello. It says much for Mourinho's reputation that he was first choice for the job, despite a manager with the record of Capello, openly stating that he was interested. Personally, I could never see Mourinho taking it. He's on record as stating that international management is an elder coach's game and if he'd experienced a change of heart, why wouldn't he rather take over Portugal after the European Championships?

I think the speculation was merely wish-fulfilment on the part of our sporting press. They'd just lost the most quotable manager since Brian Clough and saw a chance to get him back on those back pages. The evidence was hardly compelling though. One desperate theory revolved around Mourinho wanting to get back to England, because having moved to Portugal, his daughter was being bullied at school. This is particularly ridiculous, as England's comprehensive schools act as a literal conveyer belt for inventive name callers, as I imagine Steve McClaren's kids will be able to testify (especially when you consider that they're probably ginger).

Mourinho strikes me as a man who wants to create history, break records and add to his legend. Capello may have won titles in two different countries, but Jose will fancy himself to go at least one better. It is just a matter of time before Mourinho pitches up in a new country, but at which particular European superpower?

The strongest rumour centres around Mourinho taking over from Carlo Ancelotti at AC Milan. The Rossoneri may have won the Club World Cup at the weekend, but the title of the planet's best team has a hollow ring when a price of [70] is available for them to take the Serie A title. It certainly looks like time for a change at Milan. Their elderly side only seem to get their pacemakers pumping for European football these days and currently sit eleventh in Serie A.

The need for change and the fact that Italy is a country where a Mourinho team wouldn't stand out as being boring, make Jose a natural choice for the role. The only stumbling block is Berlusconi. Though Abramovic was obviously a meddler, he at least kept a low public profile. In contrast, Berlusconi regularly makes his feelings known to the media, regarding team selection. Mourinho would be afforded autonomy over footballing matters at Milan, but how would he respond to having his decisions publicly questioned?

If Mourinho does not end up in Italy, then he will go to Spain, where Real Madrid are the favourites for the title at [2.08], over Barcelona at [2.26]. Despite his recent spats with Barca, his pragmatic approach is exactly what is needed to sort out a side that look great with the ball, but brittle without it. The stumbling block is Mourinho's style of football, but there is an argument that Barcelona have so many exceptional players, that it would be impossible for them to play boring football, whatever the defensive demands made upon them.

A perceived lack of flair is what lost Capello his job at Madrid, despite winning the title. This may seem like reason for ruling out Mourinho for the Nou Camp, but reason has never exactly been Real's strong point and if Schuster fails to retain the title, they may turn to the Portuguese.

Such is Mourinho's ambition that I imagine he'll eventually manage in both Italy and Spain. That should take him up to the 2018 World Cup. Surely by then, England won't still be desperate enough to need a foreign manager to sort things out? Don't bet against it.

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