Jose Mourinho's return to Chelsea has accounted for more column inches of opinion, broadcast media debate and general banter than any other football topic this summer, and with the big kick-off to the new Premier League season looming large on the horizon, the level of interest is set to intensify further. The key question on everyone's lips: Can Jose reprise his earlier successes at Stamford Bridge? Will lightning strike twice?
Within the higher echelons of the English game, the portents don't appear too encouraging for Mourinho. Sir Matt Busby (Manchester United), Kenny Dalglish (Liverpool) and Kevin Keegan (Newcastle) tarnished their legends with unsuccessful second stints as manager of the bracketed clubs -- indeed a few wily barroom observers have noted that Sir Alex Ferguson could soon be added to this list if David Moyes fails to get to grips with the United job this season
Outside England, however, there are a couple of pristine examples of what is possible when a manager, club and supporters are reunified. In Germany, Ottmar Hitzfield, having won four Bundesliga Championships, two Cups, three League Cups, the Champions League and Intercontinental Cup in his first spell as Bayern Munich's coach, which spanned six seasons from 1998 to 2004, returned midway through the 2006-07 campaign, stayed for a further season and won the domestic Treble. In Italy, Marcello Lippi guided Juventus to three Serie A titles, two Cups, three Super Cups, one Champions League, one European Super Cup and one Intercontinental Cup between 1994 and 1999 before leaving for Inter Milan. After a brief and unsuccessful period as coach of the Nerazzurri, Lippi returned to Turin in 2001 and masterminded two more Scudetti and a brace of Super Cups for the Old Lady before taking over as coach of the Italian national team in 2004 and steering the Azzurri to World Cup glory in 2006.
Mourinho will pay little attention to these good and bad omens; his phenomenal track record of success speaks for itself. Seven league titles won: two in Portugal, two in England, two in Italy and one in Spain. Twenty trophies won as a manager, including the Champions League with Porto and Inter Milan, and the UEFA Cup with Porto. In his first sojourn in SW6, which lasted a little more than three seasons, Jose secured a remarkable 124 wins for the Blues and his Premier League record of 85 victories in 120 games (a 71 percent win rate) is second to none. The Special One delivered back-to-back titles, one FA Cup and two League Cups for Chelsea's munificent owner, Roman Abramovich, but did so against an increasingly nebulous background of subterfuge and intrigue. With his powerbase eroded by the still-to-this-day curious appointment of Avram Grant as director of football, and his failure to deliver the one trophy that Abramovich coveted above all else, Mourinho, bristling with indignation, left Stamford Bridge under a stormy cloud.
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