Inside Jose Mourinho’s Roma meltdown including calling himself Harry Potter, red card record – and what’s next for him?
Portuguese's erratic final acts included subbing a star player just 18 minutes after bringing him on
ROMA have this morning sacked Jose Mourinho, bringing his chaotic two-and-a-half year tenure in the Eternal City to an end.
Mourinho, 60, rocked up in Rome in May 2021, returning to Serie A following a decade away for the former Inter Milan boss.
The Portuguese had just been sacked by Tottenham following a miserable 18 months in North London.
He may have changed leagues by heading back to Italy, but the pattern of his tenure stayed very much the same at Roma right up to his sacking this morning.
After appointing Mourinho, club president Dan Friedkin proudly proclaimed: “The appointment of Jose is a huge step in building a long-term and consistent winning culture throughout the club.”
It appeared to be a bold claim at the time, given Mourinho’s tenures tending to combust by his third season, and at Spurs even sooner.
His first Serie A campaign was an underwhelming one as his side slumped to sixth – seven points off the top four.
The season was rescued somewhat by their European exploits, with Roma beating Leicester in the semis and Feyenoord in the final to win the Europa Conference League.
After the final, a visibly emotional Mourinho gushed: “Of course I feel like a Romanista, but that might be my way of working.
“I am a Porto fan, an Inter fan, a Chelsea fan, I am crazy about Real Madrid, I am now a Roma fan, I belong to all those clubs because we had these moments together.”
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If the win was supposed to act as a launchpad for bigger and better things, it didn’t.
In the following campaign Roma finished sixth again… on exactly the same tally of 63 points that they managed the year before.
Jose’s behaviour began to get more erratic and he received three red cards for his touchline meltdowns.
Once again the success of the season hinged on a single match, as Roma took on Sevilla in the Europa League final.
Not securing Champions League football in either of Mourinho’s first two years in charge would have seemed unthinkable to Roma’s owners, so beating Sevilla was imperative.
So when he saw his side’s season go up in flames after losing on penalties to the LaLiga side, Mourinho threw another huge tantrum.
Following the match he could be seen hurling abuse at English referee Anthony Taylor in the car park, shouting: “You’re a f***ing disgrace, you’re a f***ing disgrace!”
Mourinho’s mood didn’t improve as he returned for his third season at the helm, with Roma largely limited to loans and free transfers amid potential Financial Fair Play issues.
He did manage to sign old pal Romelu Lukaku, with the Belgian having been prolific this term.
But the former Chelsea and Manchester United star’s goals haven’t been enough to sufficiently improve Roma.
Mourinho won just one of his final six Serie A games at the helm, leaving them languishing in ninth place.
And in this period he also saw his side dumped out of the Coppa Italia by Lazio.
Back in October he received a red card after telling Monza boss Raffaele Palladino: “You talk a lot and then you cry.”
It wasn’t even his first flashpoint against Monza, as last season he had “worn a wire” to try to escape sanctions.
He tore into Serie A whistler Daniele Chiffi at the time, blasting: “He is the worst referee I have met in my life. He is the worst. Technically he’s horrible. Zero empathy. Zero communication. Zero awareness.”
Mourinho received two red cards in just four days earlier this month as his Roma tenure unravelled, including in the Rome derby Coppa defeat to Lazio.
It took his tally of red cards in the last two seasons to six – more than any player in Serie A.
Referees weren’t the only victims of Mourinho’s angst this term.
Following a 2-1 win over Sassuolo earlier in the campaign, the Portuguese focused his ire on the Italian press.
He bizarrely refused to speak Italian after the match, despite being fluent, instead using an interpreter and responding in Portuguese.
A few weeks later he snubbed them altogether following his red card against Atalanta.
Mourinho has publicly dug his players out in the past, and Renato Sanches became the latest to receive that treatment.
The confused midfielder was taken off just 18 minutes after coming on during a 2-0 defeat to Bologna last month.
Mourinho’s final battle was with the Roma fans.
He had enjoyed an incredible reception from the Romanistas in 2021, and they long continued to back him despite stagnation in Serie A.
This season saw portions of the fanbase turn on him, particularly after going out of the cup to Lazio.
Following that defeat, Mourinho bizarrely compared to himself to the world’s most famous wizard.
He said: “The Roma fans are the most incredible I have seen. Their coach is Jose ‘Harry Potter’ Mourinho and he raises expectations.”
Mourinho’s Roma sacking is the sixth of his long career.
He was first axed by Chelsea in 2007, before heading to Inter Milan.
From Italy he headed to Real Madrid, who sacked him in 2013 just a year after penning a contract extension to 2016.
Mourinho was relieved of his duties for a second time by Chelsea in December 2015 following a disastrous start to the season.
Man Utd sacked the Portuguese in December 2018 following an awful start to the season amid a rumoured rift with many of his squad.
He barely lasted 18 months at Spurs, being sacked in April 2021 amid an awful run of form that saw them crash out of the Europa League and FA Cup in embarrassing circumstances while falling out of the top four.
Now that Mourinho has left Roma, fans will be interested to see where he ends up next.
A return to the Premier League could be on the cards but after his recent string of jobs, who would take him?
Naturally there have been some rumblings of Newcastle, with Eddie Howe having faced pressure this season.
While he will always have a connection with Chelsea, given his history at Stamford Bridge.
Perhaps more likely, however, is a lucrative trip to Saudi Arabia.
Back in November he even admitted to Rai1: “I think one day I will join Saudi Pro League. I think I will go and coach there, yes.”
If so, then Mourinho’s days at the top level would officially be over.
But you can never rule out another big club calling upon the once self-proclaimed “Special One”.
