Jose Mourinho responds to Chelsea fans calling for his return
Sections of the club’s support were heard singing Mourinho’s name during the 2-2 draw at Brentford earlier this month amid Mauricio Pochettino’s struggles to convince.
The 61-year-old is currently out of work having been sacked by AS Roma but has confirmed plans to return to management.
Mourinho won three Premier League titles, an FA Cup and three League Cups across two spells at Stamford Bridge but was sacked for the second time in 2015.
Still, he remains a popular figure amongst supporters but the Blues have little plans to part ways with Pochettino at this stage.
While the Argentine admits he does not feel the “love” of supporters following a difficult first season in charge, he insists no manager would be universally popular at Chelsea at this relatively early stage of the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital era.
They could yet qualify for European football by way of Premier League finish and have another trip to Wembley on the horizon against Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final, having already lost the Carabao Cup final to Liverpool in February.
Decision-makers at Chelsea are expected to stick with Pochettino until the end of the season at least as they look to avoid a repeat of last season’s sacking of Graham Potter, only to end the campaign with a whimper.
Asked about the chants for his return by Fabrizio Romano, Mourinho said: “The first feeling is I always say that the best thing football has is the fans.
“Because the fans don’t make money with football – they spend money with football! Sometimes they spend money that the family needs and they make sacrifices because of the passion for football and especially for the passion for their clubs.
“So normally they are fair. When the club’s fans don’t like the players, don’t like the coach, for some reason, it’s not because beautiful eyes, it’s not because handsome guy. They love it, or they don’t love it, for some reason.
“In my case, independent of results – of course I had the luck always to have something to celebrate, something for the fans to have a good memory of me – but I think something that they see is when you are committed to them.”
“So normally they are fair. When the club’s fans don’t like the players, don’t like the coach, for some reason, it’s not because beautiful eyes, it’s not because handsome guy. They love it, or they don’t love it, for some reason.
“In my case, independent of results – of course I had the luck always to have something to celebrate, something for the fans to have a good memory of me – but I think something that they see is when you are committed to them.”
