One from the vaults, the 2000/2001 season at Benfica to be precise, where a fresh face José stepped up from assistant to coach for just nine league games. This was a club said to be packed to the gills with politicking and Mourinho had already refused the club’s choice of whom to be his assistant, when he delivered a 3-0 win over rivals Sporting Lisbon.
The story goes that Mou saw this victory as leverage and asked the president Vilarinho (who had wanted a coach that had played for Benifica in the hot seat, and not the Portuguese) for an extension and was denied. José resigned on the spot.
No wonder Danny Rose’s little harrumph routine failed to land a blow, eh?