The inevitable has happened, so now we can move on. Well, that's not exactly true -- as we've seen over the last couple days with rumors about Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic, Eden Hazard, and Willian, this is hardly the last time we'll have to deal with The Special Happy Honoured One.
When Jose won his first title at Chelsea, he did something that hadn't been done in 50 years. He was just the second manager ever to win a top division title with the Blues (and remains just one of three ever). Now, he's done something that hasn't been done in 40 years. After Tommy Docherty and Dave Sexton, he becomes just the third (ex-)manager in club history to also manage at Manchester United.
Interestingly, Sexton (who won the FA Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup) and Docherty (of Docherty's Diamonds fame, achieving promotion and laying the foundations for Sexton's success) followed each other at Chelsea, then repeated that trick at the Red Devils a few years later as well. Neither man was as successful up north as they were in London, a tradition that Mourinho will hopefully follow as well. (Docherty's end was especially scandalous.)
In his first press conference as United manager, Mourinho said many of the standard things one says on these sorts of occasions. He talked about an "affinity" for the club and the famous stadium, thanked the fans for their future support, and told them to get ready to be winners again and forget the last three seasons. That last bit could of course also be twisted to be about Chelsea, too.
"I feel great. I am honoured, I am proud, I am everything. But I am here to work and I cannot wait until July 7 to go out on the pitch. I think it comes in the right moment in my career because Manchester United is one of these clubs that I call a giant club. You need to be prepared for it and they need the best managers. I think I am ready."
"We can look at our club in two perspectives. One is the past three years, and another is the club history. I prefer to forget the past three years and focus on the history, and the giant club that I have in my hands now."
-Jose Mourinho; source: Sky
The Premier League schedule for the 2016-17 season comes out in less than three weeks (June 15). Any bets on a Chelsea reunion happening within the first handful of matches?