Jose Mourinho has every right to tell his critics to ‘shush.’
A lot of what you see from him is a sketch.
He likes to be the pantomime villain in front of the camera but, especially after having met him for the Game For Grenfell which he took part in when he could have been managing Manchester United’s Legends against Barcelona on the same day, he is fundamentally a very good man off it and I have a lot of respect for him.
When we turn on the telly and Jurgen Klopp is smiling we smile with him. When Mourinho is frowning we say he is sucking the life out of the game.
But I know who I would rather have managing my club.
Let’s not paint him as someone who parks the bus and sucks the life out of games.
He has done it at the highest level. For him football is about three points for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss and that is at the front of his mind.
It is not about philosophies, trying to be an innovator of the game, it is about winning trophies. And people can count them all when he has finished.
Never mind the league, Spurs - make Carabao Cup your number one priority
Mauricio Pochettino talked down the Carabao Cup before Tottenham were knocked out by West Ham last week.
But he should be making it Spurs’ No.1 priority in the next two or three years as they try to win their first trophy since 2008.
He should be saying ‘we want this league cup, I want to do what Jose Mourinho did when he went into Chelsea and then Manchester United and put some silverware on the mantelpiece early by winning the league cup. It can be a springboard.
It is the first available trophy. The final comes around quicker, when you’re fresher, while you’re younger with a smaller squad than some others. Every single aspect of it makes sense.
So nine out of ten for everything Pochettino has done, for English football, at Southampton and at Spurs
One out of ten for not prioritising that league cup as almost a Champions League-esque priority this season.
You need sorting Everton - and I know just the man to do it
Everton are a club that need to sort things our quickly because they are drifting.
You don’t want to be getting into a situation where the mood among the fans becomes so bad that every misplaced pass is greeted with discontent and the lack of goals leads to a bad crisis of confidence in the dressing room.
For me it’s simple. Whoever they have lined up, get them in place tomorrow, Wednesday, ASAP.
They need to make the decision now and, as I have said for a few weeks, it should be Carlo Ancelotti.