Before today, there was little doubt that Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho brought something different to the Premiership and the role of any football manager. Incredibly detailed pre-match preparation, personal dossiers for each player and – now – hiding in laundry carts in order to circumvent a UEFA ban.
Even though he was serving a suspension for comments made against Barcelona, it’s being claimed that Mourinho did end up making pre-match and halftime talks to his players before climbing into a laundry basket to the Stamford Bridge leisure club where his presence would serve as the eventual alibi,
The Mail and The Times are quoting a Chelsea statement saying:
“The situation is very clear. Both matches were controlled by UEFA and they were more than satisfied on both nights that their ruling was intact, hence the statements that were issued by UEFA at the time and subsequently.
“The only reason to publish this so close to a big match is to serve an agenda that is intended to undermine our team.”
The story isn’t going to undermine anything when Chelsea face Liverpool in the Champions League however, The Times reckons the only reason that UEFA will not investigate or take action is because of the time lapse since the incident – two years.
Whether it’s true or not (and we hope it is) this, along with the whole ‘hidden earpiece‘ incident, the Chelsea boss’ reputation for doing whatever it takes – no matter how ridiculous – to win continues to grow.