Chelsea’s Loss Could be England’s Gain

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SuesieG finally re-emerges from captivity to consider the opportunity that the England FA is about to let slip.

There’s an old story about an old priest, a flood, and waiting for a sign of salvation from God. While the flood waters continue to rise all around him, the old man waits on his roof, waiting for a sign that that God will save him, and in the process, turns down three rescue attempts. Upon drowning and going to heaven, the priest says to God, “I waited for you, why didn’t you come?” To which God replies, “I sent you three rescue attempts, what more do you want?”

I’ve been thinking of this story quite a lot lately, especially when those rumours of Jose Mourinho’s impending departure from Stamford Bridge surface.

I don’t know if the rumours of a rift between Mourinho and Abramovich are true, but I’d like to think after Chelsea’s performance against Valencia last week and the fact that they’re taking a storming Manchester United team to the end in the Premiership title race, a clever guy like Roman Abramovich would be reluctant to cut Mourinho loose. However, when the press-savvy Jose starts publicly stating both his desire to remain at the club, while also saying that he has a Plan B should he find himself out of a job, things aren’t looking too good.

That being said, what may be Chelsea’s loss could be England’s gain. We’re not Mourinho’s first international choice – that would be Portugal; but he’s already said that he’d like to stay in England, so why not give him – a person actually worthy of the title – the top position in the country?

Just consider this:

• Mourinho’s a proven manager in both England and Europe
• Having spent three years in England, Mourinho’s already familiar with the English set up and the English players
• He’s an obvious motivator who gets the best out of his players – all of whom seem to have a massive desire to win, even under the worst circumstances. Frank Lampard might actually score again.
• Press conferences would be all the more entertaining with Jose
• If he were allowed to do for England what he’s done for Porto and Chelsea, how enjoyable would it be to watch a decent performance from the national side again?

Of course, the likelihood of this happening is zero to none. Given the track record of the giant dumb heads at the FA, it’s a lot like the story of the priest and the flood – nobody’s paying enough attention to realize that there may be a life raft floating in their direction, and they’ll probably end up drowning instead.