Even at Fenerbahce, Jose Mourinho continues to be his old self. Between moments of brilliance, quarrels and the new nickname brought up by his side’s arch-enemy, he never strays far from the headlines.
From Roma to Fenerbahce, and as in all his footballing challenges and triumphs, Jose Mourinho has not changed at all between brilliant outings, quarrels with referees, player management and media strategies.
The so-called ‘Special One’ is still himself, even if in Turkey they have tried to label him with the nickname ‘the Crying One’, the master of weeping, following the Istanbul derby against Galatasaray.
Having joined one of Turkey’s most important Super Lig clubs after being sacked by the Giallorossi, the Portuguese coach has not been slow to make people talk about him off the pitch and has not changed his footballing style one iota.
Same old Mourinho
Mourinho’s latest stunt took place in the league game won 2-0 by his Fenerbahce side at home to Antalyaspor and brings back memories, in terms of blatantness, all the way back to his Inter epic when he made the handcuffing gesture against the referee in February 2010.
The images of what happened in Antalya have gone viral on social media: the Portuguese coach, in protest against the referees, decided to place his personal laptop in front of one of the stadium’s cameras, obscuring most of the images of the challenge.
What makes one wonder is that his PC was stuck with an emblematic freeze frame from the match, which Mou evidently had something to say about. Immediately the referee’s reaction, called by the fourth man, admonished the former Roma coach.
Returning to the first day of the Super Lig, it took Mourinho only 15 minutes to pick up his first caution of the season at the start of his Fenerbahce’s match against Adana Demirspor on the grounds of crossing the technical area.
It was a pity that the same behaviour was also displayed by his opponent colleague, but no action was taken against him. It was enough to once again turn the Special One into a victim, with the Fenerbahce fans all on his side as evidenced by social media. ‘Welcome to Turkey, you now understand how it works’ was roughly the summary of the supporters’ thoughts.
‘The Crying One’
The first major derby in his time in Istanbul was, on the other hand, a total disaster for Mourinho. His Fenerbahce side lost 3-1 to Galatasaray powered by Victor Osimhen. In addition to the humiliation on the pitch, the humiliation off it arrived punctually with the mockery of the Portuguese’s legacy, who for one night became ‘The Crying One.’
On their social media, Galatasaray posted a photo of a fake book written by Mourinho. The title? ‘The Crying One’, which is a reworking of the coach’s long-time nickname. It was accompanied by the explanation ‘On sale in bookshops near Kadikoy’, the district of Istanbul where Fenerbahce is located.
Fans went wild in their comments, but even Mourinho’s fury was not kept at bay. A Turkish journalist in the post-match showed the picture to the manager, who did not exactly react very well: “Are you serious or are you joking? Are you sure you are a journalist?” were his words, and then he left without attending the post-match press conference.
In the English version of the account, Gala posted a picture of Mourinho out of focus and, in the background, the Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk perfectly in focus. There the caption read: ‘The Winning One.’
Fenerbahce currently sit fourth in the standings, and Mourinho remains box-office. But clamour aside, there are also those who defend him.
“Give him time, impatience is never good,” said senior coach Yilmaz Vural. “Someone like him is important to promote Turkish football.”
Whether that’s true, only time will tell. For now, we can all enjoy the Mourinho show while it lasts.
