Chelsea

[Sarb]

I don't think he should have taken the job really. It looked disastrous really at the start. Now I think overall he's just about broke even reputation wise, and at least he's got his name out there again.

If that rumour about the Newcastle job is true I think he should take it.

Not Rafa's biggest fan, but he's done pretty well at Chelsea. They're a tough bunch of players to manage and have managed to rebel against a few managers and get them sacked. He's probably going to get them Top 4 and may even win the Europa Lge. Deserves huge credit for that. At one point it looked like he'd be sacked within 6 weeks.

Not sure if Newcastle would be a good fit for him. They're a bit tight sometimes

[Chris]

He's done about par at Chelsea I'd say. Has never got above the points per game average Di Matteo did earlier in the season, and ****ing up the League Cup and World Club Cup was very poor. But 3rd is a pretty decent and a Europa League win is good allbeit with the easiest draw I've ever seen, though not his fault the other big teams went out or couldnt be bothered obviously.

When was the last time a team won a European competition without having to play a German, Italian, English or Spanish team? Would love to know that one.

[Reece]

I really hope he doesn't take the Newcastle job - ****ty club - he's better than that. I should head back to Spain and get a job there.

[Shaggy]

Looks like City are after Pellegrini but by all accounts Txiki and Soriano are both fans of Benitez. I agree he's way better than Newcastle. But with Chelsea, us, and City off limits, I don't know where he can turn in this country. He'd be great at Arsenal if they ever got rid of Wenger, likewise Spurs if AVB moves on. I asked my Spurs mate about that and suggested Rafa should AVB go - naturally he wouldn't want him. Said he'd want ****in Moyes

[peekay]

Looks like City are after Pellegrini but by all accounts Txiki and Soriano are both fans of Benitez. I agree he's way better than Newcastle. But with Chelsea, us, and City off limits, I don't know where he can turn in this country. He'd be great at Arsenal if they ever got rid of Wenger, likewise Spurs if AVB moves on. I asked my Spurs mate about that and suggested Rafa should AVB go - naturally he wouldn't want him. Said he'd want ****in Moyes

Rafa should leave England and build his reputation in Spain or Germany. He will never be given a chance here.

[Shaggy]

Anyway re Mourinho - sounds like the Spanish press have had a pop at him today. They're the only ones who can see through his act. They've called him a "self-centred, navel-gazing cry baby"

[Pablo]

Your Spurs mate sounds like a proper knob every time you mention him. I'd bin him off

I think he'd be mad not to consider the Newcastle job personally if offered it. That squad of players is way better than their league position right now. I think if they spent well in the Summer he could do big things with them and boost his reputation again. We all know on here he's better than Newcastle, but right now he needs to prove that again to everyone else who's written him off as a laughing stock.

[Shaggy]

I think he needs a more stable club - Newcastle are a joke and Rafa would fall out with that Ashley tool in no time.

[Pablo]

Nowhere will ever be perfect and tick all the boxes for him (it wasn't here!), I think he's going to have to accept that. It didn't seem to bother him working under Abramovich, so I think he could handle Mike Ashely.

Anyway Mourinho , good on the Spanish press . I think this is the first league where he has been unanimously hated, and effectively hounded out of . He seemed to have his enemies in Italy too, but not nearly as bad.

Spain

[Sarb]

Anyway re Mourinho - sounds like the Spanish press have had a pop at him today. They're the only ones who can see through his act. They've called him a "self-centred, navel-gazing cry baby"

I am glad they see through his bull. The guy absolutely loves himself. He thinks he's bigger than the club. Maybe he was at Chelsea, but not at a club like Real Madrid. The way he talks about how he's loved by all in England but not in Spain etc, it's makes you want to puke

[Shaggy]

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/xabi-alonso-can-be-part-of-cheap-jose-mourinho-deal-8599978.html

Xabi Alonso can be part of 'cheap' Jose Mourinho deal

Chelsea could benefit from two-for-one offer if manager makes return to Stamford Bridge

Pete Jenson

Chelsea could land Jose Mourinho on the cheap this summer and get the former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso into the bargain if the Real Madrid coach goes back to Stamford Bridge.

The contract extension that Mourinho signed in May of last year included a £20m buyout fee but the clause is only payable if he leaves Real Madrid in mid-season. Although he has three years left on his deal, the club are prepared to negotiate a sum much lower than Mourinho's €12m (£10.2m) a year salary, such is the desire on both sides to part ways next month.

Mourinho is understood to not have a problem working with Roman Abramovich's hierarchy, including Chelsea's technical director, Michael Emenalo, and his move away from the Spanish capital will not be blocked by Real, who are already preparing for life beyond him with Carlo Ancelotti. The former Chelsea manager is likely to cost them nothing, having agreed to terminate his €7m-a-year rolling (£5.9m) contract with Paris Saint-Germain.

Alonso is out of contract at the end of next season and has still not responded to Real Madrid's offer of a two-year extension. The 31-year-old has become one of Mourinho's biggest allies at the Bernabeu while other Spain internationals have fallen out with the Portuguese coach.

It is believed Alonso is delaying his decision to see whether his coach remains in charge beyond the end of the season. Mourinho's career has been marked by the close relationships he has formed with his players but at Real that is something that has not happened. Alonso has been the exception in the dressing room, causing friction between himself and other team-mates who have covertly lobbied for Mourinho's removal.

Another option for Alonso is to hold out until the end of the 2013-14 season when he will be in a position to cut his own deal away from Madrid. But the club would prefer to get a fee for the World Cup- and European Championship-winning midfielder and though Alonso is expected to finish his career at his first club, Real Sociedad, where he played before he signed for Liverpool in 2004, he has indicated to friends at the Basque club that he wants one more foreign spell.

A move to Chelsea would be complicated by Frank Lampard being offered a one-year contract extension, as revealed in yesterday's Independent.

Having targeted Ancelotti, Real are also planning to fast-track Zinedine Zidane through their coaching ranks as they prepare to fill the void left by Mourinho. Ancelotti has never been a popular supporters' choice at the Bernabeu but giving Zidane a prominent coaching role alongside the man who managed him at Juventus is being seen as a possible solution. Zidane had already been tipped to take charge of one of the youth sides next season.

Radamel Falcao would appear to be Mourinho's marquee signing on his rejoining Chelsea. The Colombian striker will leave Atletico Madrid at the end of the season and is represented by Mourinho's agent Jorge Mendes. But another Mendes client, Cristiano Ronaldo, put good distance between his own and Mourinho's future after Real's Champions League exit to Dortmund. Asked about his compatriot's future, Ronaldo said: "It is not important to me. What matters to me is my future and Real Madrid's

[Lee]

I'd be sick if Alonso went to Chelsea.

Alonso & Falcao. Not a bad summer eh!

[Vermilion]

Anyway re Mourinho - sounds like the Spanish press have had a pop at him today. They're the only ones who can see through his act. They've called him a "self-centred, navel-gazing cry baby"

They are not wrong either.

[Chazza]

Tancredi Palmeri @tancredipalmeri
Pretty hardcore Mourinho presser.Comes out with a paper w all Real Madrid european results in last 20years to show he didn't make bad at all

Tancredi Palmeri @tancredipalmeri
Mourinho in presser: "I still haven't decide whether I would stay or I would go". ....always tease, tease, tease.....

Tancredi Palmeri @tancredipalmeri
Ouch! Mourinho shooting straight at Casillas! "What should I have done differently in last 3 years? Signing Diego Lopez a year ago"

[Chris]

The biggest ego in sporting history. A cunt of a man.