Jezz

Fondly remember this game. Arsenal had the wood over us for years, so to win in a tense contest was fantastic. I think it also shifted the balance of power toward our direction after Arsenal had a monopoly on being the top London team for several years.

No, it hasn't been officially retired. The club just hasn't reallocated it to anyone since his departure.

Good stuff. It brings back memories of a statement he made a few years back when he was managing us, though it's 20 years earlier than expected. “Carragher, Liverpool. Thompson, Liverpool. Redknapp, Liverpool. Neville, Manchester United. We don’t have one. When I retire, 75 years old, I go as a pundit to defend Chelsea on television.” – Daily Mail

No doubt it's a difficult task to achieve back-to-back titles, so teams who achieve that deserve a massive amount of credit. It's just disappointing that in 2016 and 2018, we struggled to defend our title. Part of it being our own doing more than anything in addition to other teams catching up to us.

Bring back the great one! http://www.kickoff.com/news/92083/john-obi-mikel-nigeria-captain-hints-nex

In terms of the weakest Abramovich seasons, this is my top 5: 1). 2015/2016 = Easily the worst season in the Abramovich era. Lost our greatest manager of all time, players underachieved, lack of new signings and we were 16th around the Christmas period. The second half of the season picked up a little under Hiddink, but it was a terrible season for everyone at the club. 2). 2010/2011 = We may have finished 2nd (71 points) in the PL season, but it was a weak year across the league. We sold off a bunch of hardened veterans and didn't replace them adequately, until we bought Torres and Luiz in the January transfer window. Torres was a flop, but Luiz ended up being a good acquisition for us. On the domestic front, we were eliminated from the FA and League Cups early in the competition. 3). 2017/2018 = Barring the FA Cup success, this was an average season. Finished outside the top 4, didn't achieve much in the CL and there was ongoing turmoil between Conte and the board throughout the season. The first half of the season was decent, but the second half was a downward spiral except for the FA Cup success. 4). 2011/2012 = A strange season. Our worst PL finished in 10 years, but we managed to win the FA Cup and Champions League. Felt like an end of an era in some ways, with our veterans being able to win a thoroughly deserved CL trophy after years of close misses. AVB was the wrong managerial appointment with the benefit of hindsight. Without the two trophies, it's possible this was the second worst season behind only 2015/2016. 5). 2012/2013 = A season of mixed feelings. On the field, we performed better than previous years but losing Robbie in the circumstances we did and having to put up with Benitez was tough. Winning the Europa League was a nice consolation prize after failing to defend our CL trophy and there were good moments throughout the season. The icing on the cake was bringing back Mourinho in time for the following season. It's interesting that some of our worst seasons in the Abramovich era have come off the back of title winning seasons. Seems like a recurring trend that we can't seem to shake.

Don't mind this signing, but time will tell whether it pays off or not.

Inter's a real possibility. He's still held in high regard over there. Though, I think he should take a proper long-term break which he's lacked in the last 20 years. He should have taken a break after his departure with us but he rushed himself into the Manchester United job determined to atone for his shortcomings in his final season with us. It would have made sense for him to take a break then as his father was gravely ill and subsequently passed away in 2017. If I was him, I'd take an 18 month break to spend proper time with family, to enjoy life, to study and observe the way the game is changing tactically without the added pressure of being a manager somewhere, to evaluate and reassess his philosophies in dealing with modern day players and to recharge the batteries mentally so he can be ready for the new decade. I don't think the game has seen the last of him if he gets himself in order.

It's a little disheartening to see people start to doubt or even diminish the influence he had on our club. I've noticed this sort of revisionism creeping in over the last few years. He's been through a torrid few years as manager and he's not the same manager/person as he was then, but it shouldn't be understated that he was an exceptional manager for us. Before Jose arrived in 2004, we were largely known as perennial runner ups. We always gave a strong account of ourselves every season, but we lacked that killer instinct to go all the way in key competitions such as the PL and CL. While I liked Ranieri, his managerial period was summed up with the lack of trophies at the end of it despite various opportunities to pick up silverware along the way. Jose took us to the next level and made us world beaters for several years. He instilled self belief into a team and improved most of our playing squad when he was there. He was tactically ahead of the game and arguably the best manager in the world at the time. I acknowledge the foundations were there for him to succeed, but I think most optimists didn't envisage it would go as well as it did when he first arrived. Guys such as Lampard still hold him in the highest regard. He's been quoted as saying he was the best manager he's ever worked under and Lampard had seen enough managers go around at the club to give a strong opinion on the topic of managers. His second stint isn't spoken of with the same fondness, but I still thought his first two years were very good and better than anything he produced at Manchester United. It just went rapidly downhill in the final few months which overshadows his earlier achievements in his second stint. I think his achievements at Porto and Inter Milan cement his legacy as one of the greats regardless of what you think of him. His decline started around mid-2012 in his final season at Real Madrid, but he was still a very competent manager from 2012-2014. His decline since 2015 has been much more alarming in my opinion.

Jose Mourinho stats in a calendar year (all competitions): 2004 (FC Porto/Chelsea) = 41 Wins, 12 Draws, 5 Losses (Average of 2.33 points) 2005 (Chelsea) = 42 Wins, 10 Draws, 6 Losses (Average of 2.34 points) 2006 (Chelsea) = 36 Wins, 10 Draws, 10 Draws (Average of 2.11 points) 2007 (Chelsea) = 24 Wins, 14 Draws, 3 Losses (Average of 2.10 points) 2008 (Inter Milan) = 16 Wins, 5 Draws, 3 Losses (Average of 2.21 points) 2009 (Inter Milan) = 30 Wins, 13 Draws, 9 Losses (Average of 1.98 points) 2010 (Inter Milan/Real Madrid) = 42 Wins, 11 Draws, 4 Losses (Average of 2.40 points) 2011 (Real Madrid) = 45 Wins, 7 Draws, 8 Losses (Average of 2.37 points) 2012 (Real Madrid) = 40 Wins, 10 Draws, 9 Losses (Average of 2.20 points) 2013 (Real Madrid/Chelsea) = 40 Wins, 12 Draws, 10 Losses (Average of 2.13 points) 2014 (Chelsea) = 38 Wins, 11 Draws, 7 Losses (Average of 2.23 points) 2015 (Chelsea) = 24 Wins, 13 Draws, 14 Losses (Average of 1.67 points) 2016 (Manchester United) = 18 Wins, 6 Draws, 5 Losses (Average of 2.07 points) 2017 (Manchester United) = 39 Wins, 17 Draws, 10 Losses (Average of 2.03 points) 2018 (Manchester United) = 27 Wins, 9 Draws, 13 Losses (Average of 1.84 points) Jose Mourinho stats by season (all competitions): 2004/2005 (Chelsea) = 42 Wins, 11 Draws, 6 Losses (Average of 2.32 points) 2005/2006 (Chelsea) = 37 Wins, 9 Draws, 8 Losses (Average of 2.22 points) 2006/2007 (Chelsea) = 42 Wins, 16 Draws, 6 Losses (Average of 2.22 points) 2007/2008 (Chelsea)* = 3 Wins, 4 Draws, 1 Loss (Average of 1.63 points) 2008/2009 (Inter Milan) = 31 Wins, 12 Draws, 8 Losses (Average of 2.06 points) 2009/2010 (Inter Milan) = 37 Wins, 13 Draws, 7 Losses (Average of 2.18 points) 2010/2011 (Real Madrid) = 44 Wins, 9 Draws, 6 Losses (Average of 2.39 points) 2011/2012 (Real Madrid) = 46 Wins, 7 Draws, 5 Losses (Average of 2.50 points) 2012/2013 (Real Madrid) = 38 Wins, 12 Draws, 11 Losses (Average of 2.07 points) 2013/2014 (Chelsea) = 35 Wins, 10 Draws, 12 Losses (Average of 2.02 points) 2014/2015 (Chelsea) = 36 Wins, 14 Draws, 4 Losses (Average of 2.26 points) 2015/2016 (Chelsea)* = 9 Wins, 6 Draws, 10 Losses (Average of 1.32 points) 2016/2017 (Manchester United) = 37 Wins, 18 Draws, 9 Losses (Average of 2.02 points) 2017/2018 (Manchester United) = 37 Wins, 7 Draws, 12 Losses (Average of 2.11 points) 2018/2019 (Manchester United)* = 10 Wins, 7 Draws, 7 Losses (Average of 1.54 points) Jose Mourinho (Trophies): Chelsea = 8 FC Porto = 6 Inter Milan = 5 Real Madrid = 3 Manchester United = 3

He has 24 million reasons to do so.

Pogba is an immature d**khead. Most overrated player in the world.

Manchester United supporters on RedCafe getting all chirpy about his sacking. I will piss myself laughing if they're still as sh*t as they've been in the months to come.

Didn't expect him to be sacked this soon. Crazy it's happened on nearly the same date as we sacked him three years ago. Part of me is relieved he's left Manchester United, meaning he will never cement any positive legacy there, but now I worry they'll start performing to expectations with him gone. Definitely needs a sabbatical. He's long overdue for one.