Mourinho took a paycut to join Chelsea and hopes to stay for 12 years

In case your faith in Mourinho has started to waiver a bit in light of indifferent and inconsistent results so far this year, here's Jose to relight your fire. Because if there's one thing about which we can always use a bit of reminding, it's the Jose is truly one of us. A manager, yes, but also a fan. A fan, just like us.

"I left [Real Madrid] because I wanted to, not because they wanted me to. I had other clubs in other countries where it would be easier to go and find an 'easy' job [where I could be successful] immediately. If I was here for financial reasons, I wouldn't be here getting a lot less money than I had at Real Madrid, where I had three more years on my contract."

"I didn't come here because the job was easy, or because I had a team ready to attack the title, or because I was coming here for the best contract of my life. It's the worst of my last six years. I'm here because I love the club, I love the project. It's a different project."

If we all had our way, we'd be working jobs where we'd be well compensated (say, oh, £10m/year, right Jose?) while doing exactly what we love, wherever we'd love to.

But apparently one potential side effect of such an ideal situation is a sudden outbreak of the AVB-projectese. However, fear not, this is a different project! So get ready to love it like the best project ever!

"The best way to [run a club] is to do it with stability. For the players, if you want to help them grow up, you do that much better with stability: in ideas, philosophy, model of play, style of leadership. This all comes from stability at the highest level: with the owners and board and, after that, the manager. The second line of the hierarchy. That stability is very important."

I think it's key that we emphasize that Mourinho doesn't consider himself the first line of stability. Ideas and philosophy can and should extend well beyond just the manager. Already we've seen that clearly with Michael Emenalo's transfer policies over the last couple years aplenty and somewhat less clearly with unsourced media stories about the sort of football Abramovich wants Chelsea to play. Now, Mourinho wants to add his leadership, management, and player development prowess into that mix.

"Realistically I hope at the end of those four years we sit, analyse the situation and that will be the point where we both - club and me - are happy to carry on or happy to separate."

"But I would like [to stay for], say, 12 years. I'm 51 next month. I'd say 12 years, and then two to go to a World Cup with a national team. I would prefer the Portuguese national team. England second [choice], yes."

The ideal man in the ideal job in the ideal situation ... for an ideal length of time? Sounds too good to be true - modern football being what it is - yet I suppose we can all dream. And why not?

By the by, apparently the Chelsea Pravda aren't dreamers; they chose not to include the part of about the twelve year timeframe in their published version of the quotes. This was carried by most everybody else, including The Guardian, ESPN, Mail, Mirror, etc. Bah, humbug to you, Chelsea official.

So, twelve years of Mourinho? I suppose it might go a little something like this:

In the twelfth year of Mourinho, my beloved Chelsea gave to me...
12 Glory-filled Seasons
11 Matas-a-Zolaing
10 Hazards-a-Dominating
9 David-Luizes-a-Grinning
8 Belgians-a-Thibauting
7 Brazilians-a-Hand-hearting
6 Meaningless-trophies-a-Winning
5 Premier Leagues
4 FA Cups
3 League Cups
2 Champions Leagues
And a Living Legend in Stamford Bridge.