Love him or loathe him (and I have no shame in admitting I fall into the former group) there can be absolutely no denying that José Mourinho knows how to win stuff.
On Wednesday he guided his Roma side to victory in the first ever Europa Conference League final, meaning he has now won all five of the European finals he has been involved in – two Champions Leagues, a UEFA Cup, a Europa League and now the Conference to round off the set. In itself, that is quite a remarkable achievement. But European glory is only the tip of the Mourinho iceberg of success – he has now won an incredible 26 trophies over the course of his 22 years as a manager.
He has now won all five European finals he has been involved in – quite a remarkable achievement
True, things didn’t work out for him at Old Trafford in quite the way you would have expected. He did bag some silverware but eventually succumbed to the player power which has since driven United to all but ruin.
And his time at Tottenham Hotspur was even worse, although I don’t think he was given a fair crack of the whip in London, which I still find weird considering how desperate Spurs are for trophies.
But it feels like he may have found a bit of a spiritual home in Rome, somewhere he is comfortable, happy and loved in the same way he was at Chelsea the first time round, and at Inter, albeit to a slightly lesser extent.
Of course, the Europa Conference League is no Champions League. However UEFA dresses it up, in reality this is the third division of European competition and not what can be described as a trophy of the elite.
But it is Roma’s first trophy in 14 years and their first European title since 1961. And it came in José’s first season in charge when his main aim was building for the future rather than instant success. And that will only endear him further to the success-starved Roma fans who have been looking for a managerial hero for a while.
Of course, as with most success stories, this one has a slightly dark side, in that rumours are circulating that both Newcastle United and Paris Saint-Germain could be ready to make mega-money bids to tempt José away from Italy.
And let’s face it, both those clubs have the resources needed to make offers that are almost impossible for most people to refuse. But José has said he is staying in Rome. And I believe him.
It’s not like he needs the money anyway and, at this stage of his career, after all his successes, he might just be prepared to build something gradually rather than go somewhere where the plan is to buy some instant glory.
Whoever won would have deserved it
Well that was a cracking last day of the season, full of twists, turns, drama and more than a few tears – most of which were shed in the vicinity of Burnley.
At the top end of the league, when Manchester City went 2-0 down at home to Aston Villa, it looked like they had managed to snatch second place from the jaws of first. But full credit to Pep Guardiola’s team for turning that game around in a spectacular and devastating five minutes of football.
Ultimately, I don’t think there are many people who would disagree with the idea that City are worthy champions. Then again, if Liverpool had snatched the title at the death, they would have been equally worthy champions in most people’s eyes.
That’s the beauty – and the heartache – of having two teams that are at the absolute top of the game. It’s very hard to decide which is the best.
Having said that, I am not going to deny that I would like to see more teams come into the title equation next season. Hopefully at least one or two of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Spurs will give the Jurgen Klopp and Guardiola a bit more food for thought next time round.
At the bottom, as I mentioned, it was despair for Burnley, whose cunning plan to unceremoniously sack the long-serving Sean Dyche with just a few games left didn’t have the desired effect.
After six sustained, if mostly unremarkable, years in the top-flight, they now find themselves a Championship club once again, which would be disturbing in itself, but is even more so given there are suggestions relegation triggers the club needing to pay back a £65 million loan.
Even with parachute payments (which are, as we have discussed before, wrong in so many ways) it will be difficult for Burnley to fund that sort of outlay. And they don’t have a squad brimming with sellable assets either.
Tough times lie ahead at Turf Moor.
Pitch imperfect
The number of pitch invasions in English football over the past couple of weeks has been deeply disturbing. Even more so because there have been a couple of instances of players being physically assaulted by supporters.
Despite being a Sheffield United fan, I do understand the exuberance supporters feel when their club actually achieves something like avoiding relegation, winning a trophy or making it to a final.
But I don’t get why that feeling of elation needs to be accompanied by running on to the pitch. It’s all very childish.
The authorities and the clubs need to find an effective way of stopping this happening with maximum haste. If not, a return to the dark days of supporters being fenced in like animals might not be as improbably as we once thought.
E-mail: james@quizando.com
Twitter: @maltablade