Fabio Capello
The breaks to the domestic league schedule appear to always leave Real Madrid manager, Jose Mourinho, at a loose end as once again he has caused a stir - even though La Liga is also on an international break - with an interview in French magazine L’Equipe. Not so long ago he was linked with the Portuguese National Manager position, following the premature departure of former Manchester United Number Two, Carlos Queiroz, despite his full time role at Real Madrid.
In September Spanish sports daily, MARCA, reported that Mourinho had been seen with the President of the Portuguese Football Federation, Gilberto Madail, and his agent, Jorge Mendes, at a dinner in a Madrid restaurant. It led to
MARCA reporting that Gilberto Madail was looking to "loan" Mourinho for the Portuguese national team and have him take charge of matches last October against Iceland and Denmark after Queiroz had been was sacked following a poor start on the road to Ukraine and Poland,
With no replacement names in the offing at the time, it seemed the Federation at the time had designs on Jose Mourinho. When that received little interest from Real Madrid the job went to Paulo Bento.
While Spain play their two international fixtures this week Mourinho claimed he was on the verge of accepting the job in 2007 after Steve McClaren was sacked following England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008. In the end Jose had a change of heart and decided to stay in club management.
Speaking to l'Equipe he said : "I was hours away - I almost signed up for the England national team.
"But at the last minute I began thinking, 'I am going to coach a national side, there will be one match a month and the rest of the time I will be in my office or overseeing matches. And then to have to wait until the summer to compete in a European Championship or a World Cup?' No, it wasn't for me.
"So at the last moment I pulled back, preferring to wait for the right job to come along, a good club, a challenge that could motivate me. That was Inter (Milan).''
The Football Association were quick to respond to Mourinho's comments. "Fabio was our first choice for England manager,'' a spokesman said. "We have made that clear from the outset.''
Fabio Capello was unimpressed at being told of Mourinho's admission, insisting: 'I don't speak about the relationship with the other clubs, out of respect for other managers.
'I don't like to speak about my relationship with the clubs, with other people. These are my personal secrets. I'll never tell you about what really happened in my career. I think it's serious.'
Although the FA explored the possibility of recruiting Mourinho they always suspected he would choose to remain in club management and they insist, he was never the preferred option to the Italian. When Capello was informed of Mourinho's interview, he insisted at first that he did not care.
'This is a question for the chairman who chose me, not a question for me,' he said. 'Every time a club or a different national team decides to choose a manager, they decide to speak with a lot of managers. It's normal. It's not different.'
Mourinho left Chelsea in September 2007, two months before McClaren was dismissed, and took up his role as head coach at Inter in June 2008. After guiding Inter to the Champions League he then left for Real Madrid in the summer of 2010.
"When I left Chelsea, the first month was fantastic. I went to Africa, to Japan, I did tons of things I had not been able to do,'' he added. "The second month was also good, but from the third onwards it was horrible, just awful.''
Mourinho admitted he also came close to taking the Paris St Germain job after leaving Stamford Bridge, but decided against it as he was not convinced by Ligue 1's quality.
Asked why he did not take the PSG post, he said: "I do not know. Perhaps because of the feeling that England, Spain or Italy are more powerful leagues, and we must make the most of the best years of our career by working at the highest level.''
With Real Madrid returning to action on Sunday, when they entertain Sporting de Gijon at the Santiago Bernabeu in la Liga , followed by the visit of Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal,
With a busy month of April ahead Jose Mourinho should have less time on his hands to think about all such things.
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