The Ruthless One – Mourinho’s Victims

Jose Mourinho must eat an apple a day, as it seems he’ll be keeping the doctor away for the foreseeable future.

His bizarre spat with Chelsea’s team doctor, Eva Carneiro, is the latest in a long line of incidents where Mourinho lays the blame with someone else. There’s a suspicion that the Blues boss is using the medic to deflect attention away from his side’s disappointing Premier League opener with Swansea City.

Here’s a look at some of his most controversial incidents and what became of his previous victims.

Anders Frisk

Despite spending two years as Sir Bobby Robson’s translator at Barcelona, Mourinho has never had much time for the Catalan club.

His first spell at Chelsea included a Champions League tie against Frank Rijkaard’s Barca in 2005 and things got ugly. Real ugly.

The first leg, at the Nou Camp, ended in a 2-1 win for the home side but the result was heavily influenced by the second half dismissal of Didier Drogba. Clearly incensed, Mourinho accused referee Anders Frisk of allowing Rijkaard into his dressing room at half-time – an act outlawed by UEFA regulations.

Chelsea triumphed on aggregate but the controversy raged on. UEFA branded Mourinho “the enemy of football” and he received a two-match touchline ban.

Meanwhile, Frisk retired prematurely following death threats from Chelsea fans claiming he was “too scared” to officiate again.

Stephen Hunt

Chelsea’s win over Reading in 2006 was overshadowed by a nasty collision involving Petr Cech and Irish winger Stephen Hunt, which left the new Arsenal number one with a depressed fracture of the skull.

Hunt immediately pleaded his innocence and was backed by his club, which rejected claims by Mourinho that the challenge was malicious.

The Chelsea boss felt Cech was “lucky to be alive” and suggested Hunt was “laughing about it” afterwards.

Hunt was not disciplined by the FA but was the recipient of several death threats in the aftermath of the incident. Cech still requires protective headgear and has no recollection of the incident, but has snubbed any offers of reconciliation from Hunt.

Tito Vilanova

Mourinho wasn’t exactly loved in Spain during his tenure as Real Madrid boss, with a Spanish Supercopa clash with Barcelona providing one of his most notorious incidents.

A mass brawl broke out at the end of a fiery clash with Mesut Ozil and David Villa both shown red cards. Amidst the chaos, Mourinho was caught on camera poking Barca’s assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye, who responded by pushing the Madrid boss away.

Both were handed bans by the Spanish football association, but Mourinho’s antics sparked widespread condemnation across Spain.

Vilanova later took over as Barcelona boss and Mourinho later uncharacteristically accepted that he “should not have done it, obviously not”.

Vilanova sadly passed away last year following a battle with cancer and Mourinho led the tributes, calling it “a sad day for football”.

Jesualdo Ferreira

Even early in his managerial career, and before he became a household name, Mourinho was putting noses out of joint.

He began his career in management at Benfica, stepping up from his role as assistant in 2000 following the departure of Jupp Heynckes. However, despite his inexperience, he was adamant about appointing his own backroom staff.

The clubs’s hierarchy attempted to assign Jesualdo Ferreira as his assistant but the Special One was having none of it.

Mourinho had previous dealings with him and launched into a critical tirade against the experienced Ferreira, stating “This could be the story of a donkey that worked for 30 years but never became a horse”. Even then, Mourinho had confidence in his legacy, adding “The one with the 30-year career will be forgotten when he ends it; the one with three (Mourinho) could end it right now and he could never be erased from history”.

Mourinho got his way and the rest is, well, history. Meanwhile, Ferreira went on to win three consecutive league titles with Porto and is now manager of Egyptian side Zamalek.