Football news - 'I was rude, but I was rude to an idiot' - Jose Mourinho after Tottenham v Saints
ByTNT Sports
Updated 01/01/2020 at 20:39 GMT
Jose Mourinho's charm offensive as Tottenham manager appears to have ended with the New Year, judging by the verbal volley over the booking he received during his side's defeat to Southampton.
Southampton's Austrian manager Ralph Hasenhuttl (R) looks on a English referee Mike Dean shows Tottenham Hotspur's Portuguese head coach Jose Mourinho (L) a yellow card
Image credit: Getty Images
WHAT HAPPENED?
During a nightmare afternoon at Southampton, in which Spurs were defeated 1-0 and lost both captain Harry Kane and Tanguy Ndombele to injuries, Jose Mourinho found himself at the centre of an unseemly spat.
Mourinho appeared to look at some notes being taken on the Southampton bench with 12 minutes to go in the second half, leading to an altercation with officials and the awarding of a yellow card from referee Mike Dean.
The Spurs manager accepted he deserved the caution for his behaviour, but with a rather blunt caveat.
"The yellow card was fair, because I was rude," Mourinho said. "But I was rude to an idiot."
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Mourinho says 'I was rude to an idiot' in press conference
WHO WAS THE 'IDIOT'?
It is unclear just who Mourinho was referring to in such derisory terms, although he had words with a member of Ralph Hasenhuttl's technical team at St Mary's.
DIDN'T MOURINHO SAY HE WAS A CHANGED MAN?
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Tottenham Hotspur's Portuguese head coach Jose Mourinho (L) consoles Tottenham Hotspur's English striker Harry Kane (R)
Image credit: Getty Images
It's fair to say that many Spurs supporters were sceptical when, the day after the club disposed of their beloved Mauricio Pochettino, Mourinho was presented as the new manager.
Memories of his unhappy spell at Manchester United were fresh in the memory, with his time at Old Trafford characterised by belligerence and feuding. But in his first press conference as Spurs boss he said he was a new and improved man.
I think so, I believe so. I always thought these 11 months were not a waste of time, these 11 months were months to think, to analyse, take care and think about things. I think so. You never lose your DNA, your identity, you are what you are, the good and the bad. I have time to think about many things. Don't ask me what are the mistakes but I realise during my career I also made mistakes. I won't make the same mistakes, I am going to make new ones.
He even spent a portion of the press conference eulogising about how soft the pillows were at the Tottenham training ground.
HOW LONG DID HE KEEP IT UP?
Mourinho's charm offensive gathered pace when a quick-thinking ball boy helped play a role in a Tottenham win against Olympiakos in the Champions League.
Mourinho then invited the lucky kid for lunch with the Tottenham players in a truly heartwarming and absolutely in-character development.
But the act couldn't be maintained for too long. A man who relishes conflict as much as Mourinho - a man who has contributed to some of the most spectacular verbal battles seen in the Premier League - can't stay away from it for too long.
WHEN DID THE CRACKS APPEAR?
After seeing Spurs lose 2-0 at home to his former club Chelsea, Mourinho saw fit to dig out Antonio Rudiger for apparently playacting during an incident that saw Son dismissed - on a night when the Chelsea man was the target of racial abuse.
I’m not speaking about the racism incident, this is another thing. I am speaking about that incident, the red card. In the Premier League I love there is no space also for what Rudiger did. Stand up and play man.
SO IN SHORT?
We've got our Jose back. What else did you expect from the man who called Arsene Wenger a voyeur and mocked Antonio Conte's hair transplant?
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