It has been confirmed that both José Mourinho ("The Special One") and Antonio Conte have been appointed as managers of new clubs. The former is headed to Turkey, where he will manage Fenerbahçe and the latter is headed to his homeland of Italy to manage Napoli.
Appointing these managers has a double edged sword effect. On the one hand, they bring with them, a wealth of experience and success. However, on the other hand, they bring with them a lot of chaos and turmoil. These two are well known for speaking their minds at pressers without much concern or worry of the possible reprecussions. When they don't get what they want, they will throw their toys out the cot (quite literally, if made possible).
If there's one thing that talks for both men, it's money. When they enter into a new job, they expect an open checkbook and to get the players they want when both of the transfer windows . They can easily get upset if they don't get what they want and are forced to compromise.
"The Special One" has managed all over Europe, with Turkey being a new journey for him as he hasn't managed in the country before. In England, he's managed: Chelsea (twice); Manchester United and Tottenham. In Spain, he's managed Real Madrid. In his native Portugal, he's managed Benfica and Porto. Finally, in Italy, he has managed Inter Milan and his last employment, Roma.
His chaos began at his very first job - Benfica. The Benfica higher ups wanted to appoint Jesualdo Ferreira as the assistant. Mourinho wasn't pleased with their desired choice. He, instead, hired Carlos Mozer to be his assistant. Mourinho was highly critical of Ferreira, whom he had first encountered as his teacher at ISEF and later lambasted the veteran coach by stating, "This could be the story of a donkey who worked for 30 years but never became a horse."
Mourinho and Mozer proved a popular combination, enjoying a 3–0 win against rivals Sporting Lisbon in December. Their reign appeared to be at risk after Benfica's election turned against club president. João Vale e Azevedo and the newly elected Manuel Vilarinho said that he would instate ex-Benfica player, Toni, as his new coach. Although Vilarinho had no intention of firing him immediately, Mourinho used the victory over Sporting to test the president's loyalty and he asked for a contract extension.
Vilarinho refused the demand and Mourinho resigned from his position immediately. He left the club on 5 December 2000, after just nine league games in charge. Upon later reflection, Vilarinho rued his poor judgement and expressed his frustration at losing Mourinho: "[Put me] back then [and] I would do exactly the opposite: I would extend his contract. Only later I realised that one's personality and pride cannot be put before the interest of the institution we serve."
During his first reign at Chelsea (from 2004 - 2007), during the 2006-07 season, there was growing media speculation that Mourinho would leave the club at the season's conclusion due to alleged poor relations with owner, Roman Abramovich and a power struggle with sporting director, Frank Arnesen and Abramovich advisor, Piet de Visser.
Mourinho later cleared doubts regarding his future at Stamford Bridge, stating that there would only be two ways for him to leave Chelsea: if Chelsea didn't offer him a new contract before the expiry of his current deal in June 2010 or if Chelsea were to sack him.
Despite the continued success up to that point (he had bagged two Premier League titles and a League Cup), there were to be further friction between Mourinho and Abramovich when Avram Grant was appointed as director of football, despite objections from Mourinho. They ended up only winning the FA Cup that season.
The following season would be the last for Mourinho at Chelsea (first time around). In the first match of the 2007–08 season, Chelsea beat Birmingham City, 3–2, to set a new record of 64 consecutive home league matches without defeat. Despite surpassing the record set by Liverpool between 1978 and 1981, the start to the 2007–08 season was less successful than previous starts. The team lost at Aston Villa and followed this with a goalless draw at home to Blackburn Rovers. Their opening game in the UEFA Champions League saw them only manage a 1–1 home draw against the Norwegian team, Rosenborg, in front of only 24,973 (an almost half-empty stadium), which included an unimpressed owner, Roman Abramovich.
Mourinho unexpectedly left Chelsea on 20 September 2007 "by mutual consent", although there had been a series of disagreements with owner Roman Abramovich. The Chelsea board held an emergency meeting and decided it was time to part with their manager.
His next job, at Inter Milan brought tremendous success. He was appointed on 2 June 2008. He replaced Roberto Mancini. He won his first match, the Supercoppa Italiana (Italian Super Cup), against Roma, on penalties. He won the Serie A title in his first season by a margin of 10 points. They were eliminated in the first knockout round of the Champions League to Manchester United and eliminated from the Coppa Italia (Italian Cup competition), losing 3–1 on aggregate to Sampdoria in the semi-finals.
Despite his domestic successes in winning the Scudetto by a 10-point margin, Mourinho's first season in Italy was viewed as disappointing by some Inter fans, as the club failed to improve on the performances of his predecessor, Roberto Mancini in the Champions League. Inter put in a series of lacklustre group stage performances that included a shock 1–0 home loss to Panathinaikos and an away draw with Cypriot minnows, Anorthosis Famagusta. Inter qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League but failed to make it to the quarter-finals after being defeated by Manchester United.
On 16 May 2009, Inter mathematically won the Serie A title after runners-up, [AC] Milan lost to Udinese. This loss left the Inter seven points above their cross town rivals with only two games remaining. They would eventually finish 10 points clear of Milan.
In his final season at Inter, he managed to secure the treble: the League title (Serie A); Cup title (Coppa Italia) and the Champions League. in doing so, became the first Italian club to complete the treble, with Mourinho personally celebrating the second Champions League title in his managerial career (his first was with Porto).
The day after having won the Champions League, Mourinho said that he was "sad, as almost for sure it's my last game with Inter". He then added that "if you don't coach Real Madrid then you will always have a gap in your career". After days of discussions between Real Madrid and Inter, a world-record-breaking compensation package was successfully agreed on 28 May 2010. The fee was £6.8 million (€8 million). Mourinho was consequently released by Inter.
On 28 May 2010, it was confirmed that Mourinho would take over from Manuel Pellegrini at the Santiago Bernabéu. On 31 May 2010, Mourinho was unveiled as the new manager of Real Madrid after signing a four-year contract and became the eleventh manager at the club in the previous seven years. Mourinho was appointed sporting manager as well as first-team coach and he was referred to as a Galáctico, a term more often used for star players instead of coaches.
Prior to Mourinho's arrival, Real Madrid had underperformed, despite paying record transfer fees for Galácticos such as Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo. Their 2009–10 season was marked by disappointments such as Alcorconazo, a shock 2009–10 Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) round of 32 defeat to Segunda División B team, Alcorcón and elimination from the Champions League by Lyon in the round of 16 though they finished second in La Liga with a club record 96 points.
By the end of the transfer window, after the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Mourinho had brought four new players to the squad: the Germans Sami Khedira (€13 million) and Mesut Özil (€15 million); Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvalho (€8 million) and Argentine winger Ángel Di María (€25 million plus €11 million on incentives).
In 2011, Mourinho won his first trophy in Spanish football as Real Madrid defeated arch-rivals Barcelona 1–0 in the Copa del Rey final held at the Mestalla in Valencia, ending Real Madrid's 18-year-long Copa del Rey drought. It was also Real's first trophy since their 2007–08 La Liga title.
On 2 May 2012, Real Madrid won 3–0 against Athletic Bilbao to clinch the La Liga title for the first time in four years. On 13 May 2012, Real Madrid defeated Mallorca, 4–1, in their last league match of the season, which set records for most games won in a La Liga season (32); most away wins (16); most points obtained in any of the top European leagues (100); improving the most goals scored record they already had set earlier (121) and finishing the season with the highest goal difference (+89). Real Madrid topped the league nine points clear of runners-up Barcelona.
Amid all of this success, he had fraught relationships with Sergio Ramos and club captain, Iker Casillas (a popular player whom Mourinho sidelined in 2013). This caused divisions between fans in the "Mourinhistas" and "Madridistas" (the more traditional Real Madrid fans) camps. His relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo became difficult because, according to Mourinho, the player "maybe thinks that he knows everything and that the coach cannot improve him anymore", so was unwilling to accept constructive criticism.
Mourinho was also criticised for controversial incidents, including poking Tito Vilanova (then assistant coach at Barcelona), in the eye during a brawl, continual complaints about refereeing bias, clashes with journalists and Real officials and frequent hints that Barça received favourable treatment from UEFA.
Following the 2013 Copa del Rey final loss to Atlético Madrid on 17 May, Mourinho called the 2012–13 season "the worst of my career". Three days later, Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez ,announced Mourinho would leave the club at the end of the season by "mutual agreement", a year after signing a contract extension to 2016.
On 3 June 2013, Chelsea appointed Mourinho as manager for the second time, on a four-year contract. Mourinho told Chelsea TV, "In my career I've had two great passions – Inter and Chelsea – and Chelsea is more than important for me." "It was very, very hard to play against Chelsea, and I did it only twice which was not so bad." "Now I promise exactly the same things I promised in 2004 with this difference to add: I'm one of you." On 10 June 2013, Mourinho was officially confirmed as Chelsea manager for the second time at a press conference held at Stamford Bridge.
In 2014, Mourinho suffered his first ever home league defeat as Chelsea manager in a 2–1 loss to Sunderland at Stamford Bridge. He consistently played down Chelsea's title chances throughout the season and referred to it as a transitional season. He was slowly moulding his squad and most significantly, dropping (and eventually selling) Chelsea's player of the year of the two previous seasons, Juan Mata to Manchester United. Chelsea went on to finish third in the 2013–14 Premier League, four points behind champions Manchester City and was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 2013–14 Champions League by Atlético Madrid.
In the 2014-15 season, he won the League Cup, after defeating Tottenham, 2-0. He additionally won the League with three games to spare. On 7 August 2015, Mourinho signed a new four-year contract with Chelsea that would have kept him at Stamford Bridge until 2019.
On 29 August, Mourinho reached his 100th Premier League home match at Chelsea, which ended in a 2–1 loss to Crystal Palace. Chelsea started the season by picking up just eleven points in their first twelve games in the Premier League. They also went out of the League Cup to Stoke City on penalties on 27 October.
On 17 December 2015, after losing nine of 16 Premier League matches, Chelsea announced that they had parted company with Mourinho "by mutual consent". The club went on to state: "The club wishes to make clear Jose leaves us on good terms and will always remain a much-loved, respected and significant figure at Chelsea."
On 27 May 2016, Mourinho signed a three-year contract with Manchester United, with an option to stay at the club until at least 2020. In his first season, he won the Community Shield; The League Cup and the Europa League. In so doing, he became the first Manchester United manager to win a trophy in his first season.
In his second season, Mourinho was criticised for Manchester United's Champions League exit to Sevilla at the Round of 16 stage, which resulted in a surprise twelve minute rant from Mourinho defending his United career.
Manchester United finished second in the table – the club's best result since the departure of Alex Ferguson five years prior – after a 1–0 home defeat to West Bromwich Albion, finishing nineteen points behind Manchester City. United also lost the 2018 FA Cup Final to Mourinho's former club Chelsea after an Eden Hazard penalty sealed a 1–0 win for the Blues
After a poor start to the 2018–19 season which saw Manchester United lose two of their opening three league games for the first time in 26 years, including a 3–0 home loss to Tottenham Hotspur – the heaviest home defeat of his career – an animated Mourinho demanded "respect" from critical journalists and held up three fingers (one for each Premier League trophy he had won as coach), adding: "I won more Premier Leagues alone than the other 19 managers [in the league] together."
At his next press conference four days later, he said: "I am the manager of the one of the greatest clubs in the world but I'm also one of the greatest managers in the world." After starting the 2018–19 season with just seven wins in the first 17 Premier League games, leaving Manchester United 19 points behind the league leaders, Mourinho was sacked by the club on 18 December 2018.
On 20 November 2019, Mourinho was appointed as the manager of Tottenham Hotspur on a four-year contract, replacing the sacked Mauricio Pochettino. He sparked media attention on 26 November 2019, when he claimed that ball boy, Callum Hynes, 'assisted' Spurs' second goal in a 4–2 win over Olympiacos in the Champions League. In the Champions League round of 16, Tottenham Hotspur lost both matches to be defeated 0–4 on aggregate against RB Leipzig.
Mourinho recorded his 300th win in English football when Tottenham beat West Ham United 2–0 on 23 June 2020. He secured his first ever win as a manager at St James' Park on 15 July 2020 when Tottenham defeated Newcastle by a scoreline of 3–1. Mourinho finished his first season with Tottenham Hotspur at sixth position in the Premier League.
On 10 February 2021, Tottenham were knocked out of the FA Cup, losing 5–4 after extra time to Everton in the quarter-finals. This was the first time since 2010 that a José Mourinho-led team had conceded five goals in a match. On 23 February 2021, Tottenham lost 1–0 to Chelsea, marking the first time in his career that Mourinho had lost two consecutive home games. On 18 March, Tottenham lost 3–0 to Dinamo Zagreb after extra time in the second leg of the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League round of 16, being eliminated from the competition 3–2 on aggregate.
On 19 April 2021, Mourinho was sacked by Tottenham Hotspur after 17 months in charge of the club, days before the EFL Cup Final against Manchester City. This marked the first time Mourinho had departed a club without winning a trophy since 2002.
On 4 May 2021, Mourinho was appointed head coach of Roma from the start of the 2021–22 season, replacing compatriot Paulo Fonseca.
On 5 May, Mourinho guided Roma to their first European final since 1991 by beating Leicester City 2–1 on aggregate in the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League, making him the first manager to reach the final of all three current major European competitions and the first manager to reach a major European final with four different clubs. On 24 May, Mourinho won his first title with Roma by defeating Feyenoord in the 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League Final.
This was Roma's first trophy in 11 years, making him the third manager, after Udo Lattek and Giovanni Trapattoni, to have won all three existing major European trophies and the first to achieve the UEFA treble by winning the Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League and Europa Conference League (in place of the defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup).
It was also the first time a Serie A team won a continental championship since Inter Milan's 2009–10 UEFA Champions League, achieved under Mourinho himself as coach.
In his second season, despite a challenging season for Mourinho due to inconsistencies and injuries to key players, on 18 May, he guided Roma to their second consecutive European final, beating former Real Madrid player, Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen 1–0 on aggregate in the semi-finals of the Europa League, repeating the same feat during his time at Porto of reaching back-to-back European finals in 2003 and 2004.
Following a 2–2 home draw to Salernitana in Serie A, Mourinho admitted that "Champions League qualification would be more than a miracle" for Roma, after disagreeing with Roma's sporting director, Tiago Pinto, comments that Champions League qualification was the main goal for Roma's season, adding that "we can write history and want to continue doing it but qualifying for the Champions League when spending €7 million on the transfer market is more than history, more than a miracle. It's Jesus Christ coming to Rome and having a walk around the Vatican."
According to Corriere dello Sport, the relationship between Mourinho and Roma directors had turned frosty as the two parties had different views on the club's future, with Mourinho becoming increasingly frustrated over a lack of financial backing at Roma, due to the club's Financial Fair Play restrictions, leading to some disagreements over potential transfers, as he wanted reassurances from the Roma owners before committing his future to the club, amid reports that Mourinho was in advance negotiations to become Paris Saint-Germain's new manager.
In the Europa League final, on May 31, Mourinho managed his sixth European final, as Roma faced Sevilla, losing 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw in extra-time. This was Mourinho's first loss in a European final. After the presentation of his runner-up medal, Mourinho gave his medal to a young Roma supporter.
In the press conference after the match, Mourinho said that "he wanted to stay" at Roma but that he also "wanted conditions to give more", as he was "tired of acting as a manager, director of communications and complain about referee's decisions."
In his third season, after enduring a difficult start to the season, with the club near the relegation zone, on 17 September, Mourinho registered the biggest win in Serie A since April 1961, when Roma thrashed Empoli, 7–0 at home.
Following a negative string of results that left Roma in ninth place, five points behind the UEFA Champions League qualification spots and two consecutive losses against Lazio in the 2023–24 Coppa Italia quarter-finals and AC Milan in the league, Roma announced on 16 January 2024, that they parted ways with Mourinho with immediate effect.
This brings us to the present day where on 1 June 2024, Turkish side Fenerbahçe confirmed that Mourinho had officially begun negotiations with the club over their head coach role in a statement to the Public Disclosure Platform.
Over to Antonio Conte now. He hasn't travelled as much as Mourinho. He has mainly stuck to Italy and two excursions in England.
In 2009, he was appointed manager of Atalanta after replacing Angelo Gregucci. Despite a good start at the helm of the Orobici, the club found itself struggling by November, leading to protests from local supporters and friction between Conte and the club's ultra supporters.
On 6 January 2010, Conte was repeatedly confronted by Atalanta fans during a home game against Napoli, which ended in a 0–2 defeat for the Nerazzurri. The match ended with Conte receiving police protection to avoid an altercation with the Atalanta ultras. The next day, Conte tendered his resignation to the club, leaving them in 19th place.
In 2011, Juventus sporting director, Giuseppe Marotta, announced Juventus had appointed Conte as its new head coach, replacing Luigi Delneri. Conte arrived amid high expectations that he, a former fan favourite as a midfielder for the club, would lead them back to the summit of the Italian and European game.
His first ten months as manager saw the club reach a number of landmarks such as, following a 5–0 win over rivals Fiorentina, equalling Fabio Capello's run of 28 unbeaten matches between November 2005 and May 2006. On 20 March 2012, Conte became the first coach to lead Juventus to a Coppa Italia final since Marcello Lippi in the 2004 Coppa Italia final. On 25 March, following a 2–0 victory at the Juventus Stadium, he became the first coach to complete the league double in the Derby d'Italia against rivals Inter Milan since Capello in 2005–06.
In November 2012, Conte was awarded the Trofeo Maestrelli, an award honouring the three best Italian coaches working in the professional league, the country's youth coaching system and outside Italy, respectively.
Despite drawing a large number of matches during the season, on 6 May 2012, Conte led Juventus to their 28th league title with one match remaining by beating Cagliari 2–0. After beating Atalanta 3–1, Juventus finished the league unbeaten, the first team to do so since Serie A expanded to 20 teams and 38 rounds.
Conte's innovative 3–5–2 formation, which featured wingbacks and two box-to-box midfielders in a three-man midfield, gave more creative freedom to the newly acquired deep-lying playmaker Andrea Pirlo, who was key to the club's success that season. The club's strong and highly organised three-man back-line, which was predominantly composed of Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea Barzagli, was regarded to have played a large part in the title triumph and only conceded 20 goals, finishing the league with the best defence in Italy. Juventus lost the 2012 Coppa Italia final to Napoli 2–0, their only defeat in domestic competitions that season.
Conte's Juventus won the 2012–13 Serie A title as they accumulated 87 points, three more than the previous season, nine more than second-placed Napoli and 15 more than third-placed Milan. Juventus won their third consecutive Serie A title under Conte during the 2013–14 season, winning the league with a Serie A record of 102 points. This was also the club's 30th league title. Juventus were eliminated from the group stage of the Champions League that season although they subsequently managed to reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League. On 15 July 2014, Conte resigned as manager. During his three seasons as Juventus manager, he won the Panchina d'Oro for each one, for best Serie A coach of the season.
On 14 August 2014, following Italy national team manager Cesare Prandelli's resignation, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) announced to have agreed a two-year deal with Conte as new head coach of the national team until Euro 2016. With the national side, Conte continued to field formations which he had employed during his successful spell with Juventus, varying between the 4–3–3, 4–2–4, 3–3–4, and the 3–5–2 in particular, with the latter being the tactical choice that ultimately replaced Prandelli's 4–3–1–2 midfield diamond formation.
On 15 March 2016, the FIGC confirmed Conte would step down as manager after Euro 2016. Although many fans and members of the media were initially critical of Conte's tactics and the level of the Italian squad chosen for the competition. Italy exited the competition in the quater-finals against Germany. After the match, he said, "[T]he decision to leave the national team after two years was taken early," and that the reason for leaving was because he "wanted to return to the cut and thrust of club football."
In April 2016, it was confirmed Conte would officially become the new first-team head coach of Chelsea after signing a three-year contract, which would keep him at the club until 2019. In January 2017, Conte became the first manager in history to win three consecutive Premier League Manager of the Month awards (October, November and December).
They won the 2016–17 Premier League title with two matches to spare. Following a 5–1 home win over Sunderland on 21 May, Chelsea also set a new Premier League record for the most wins in a single season, with 30 league victories out of 38 league matches. On 18 July 2017, Conte signed a new two-year contract with Chelsea.
In 2018, Conte led Chelsea to a 1–0 victory over Manchester United in the 2018 FA Cup final. Chelsea finished fifth in the league at the end of the season, missing out on Champions League qualification. Conte was sacked as Chelsea manager on 13 July 2018 and was replaced by Maurizio Sarri. During this period, the club is said to have lost £26.6m in paying off compensation to Conte, his team and legal fees, as per Chelsea's accounts.
He headed back to Italy when, on 31 May 2019, Conte was appointed head coach of Serie A club, Inter Milan, on a three-year contract. Inter finished second behind Juventus by just one point in the Serie A title race. Inter also reached the final of the Europa League but suffered a 3–2 defeat to Sevilla in Cologne on 21 August 2020.
On 2 May 2021, Inter were confirmed as Serie A champions for the first time in eleven years, ending Juventus's run of nine consecutive titles. Despite achieving Serie A glory, it was announced by Inter on 26 May 2021, that Conte had left the club by mutual consent. The departure was reportedly due to disagreements Conte had with the club's board over transfers for the following season.
Conte was appointed as head coach of Tottenham Hotspur on 2 November 2021, following the sacking of Nuno Espírito Santo the previous day. He signed an 18-month contract with the option of a further year. On 18 March 2023, Conte gave a press conference following a 3–3 draw away to bottom of the league Southampton, after Tottenham conceded a 3–1 lead. Conte said that he sees "selfish players" that "don't put their heart [into it]", and intending to explain Spurs' current situation, he said: "Tottenham's story is this. Twenty years there is the owner and they never won something, but why? The fault is only for the club, or for every manager that stay[s] here?"
On 26 March 2023, following exits in the Champions League as well as the FA Cup, it was announced by Tottenham that Conte had left the club by mutual consent. At the time of his departure, Tottenham were fourth in the Premier League, two points ahead of Newcastle United who had two games in hand.
This brings us to today and his appointment. Antonio Conte’s contract at Napoli does not include any specific clause for early termination of the agreement. The contract will be valid until June 2027 with no exit clause. Any early termination wouldn’t have an official fixed or guaranteed amount on paper (as per Fabrizio Romano).
In the beginning, I was happy with the appointment of Mourinho at Man Utd. However, as time went on, I got really annoyed. Annoyed because of his behaviour towards the media and the treatment he gave towards certain players like Luke Shaw.
As it has been shown, these two managers have achieved a lot. However, it does come with a high cost. They will moan and scream when things don't get their way. When they get a new managerial job, they should come with a danger sign. When hiring one of these two, the club in question should err on the side of caution.
It would be bonkers to appoint either one.
Please don't call me arrogant, but I'm European champion and I think I'm a special one.
- José Mourinho