Sir
Alex Ferguson says Chelsea would be sacking "one of the best coaches of all
time" if they got rid of Jose Mourinho.
Saturday's home defeat to Bournemouth was an eighth in this season's Premier
League for the reigning champions and brought an abrupt end to a recent
improvement in results.
And a report in Monday's The Times newspaper claimed Mourinho's job will be
under threat if they fail to progress in the Champions League this week,
despite a vote of confidence from the board back in October.
That would be a huge mistake, according to the Portuguese's old Manchester
United rival, who said: "[Roman Abramovich] has sacked so many coaches in
the last 10 years that I am sure he has learned by it. He has to trust and
have confidence Jose can turn around.
"There is no point in sacking one of the best coaches of all time, he's won
the European Cup twice, he's won the league in each country he's managed in,
he's won the big trophies."
Mourinho has clashed regularly with officials this season, one altercation
resulting in a stadium ban in November, but Ferguson believes his old rival
has recovered his equilibrium and is close to reviving Chelsea's season.
Speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt London event, he said: "I have been
watching Jose recently and spoken to him a couple of times, and this is the
first time he has been confronted with non-success.
"If you look at his whole career there has been nothing but a rise all of
the time so for the first time in his life he has had to deal with bad
publicity, adversity and that is a challenge for him, but there are signs he
is getting back to a balanced level although they lost on Saturday.
"I watched the match on Saturday and they could have won by a few goals, but
they lost and then he has still has to face that sort of negative publicity
and it is never easy for a manager in present-day football because the media
attention is huge.
"Football today is such a big financial industry, the television deal is
[worth] billions, there is the press involvement, there is pressure from
their own fans, it is a very high risk industry today.
"The sort of average time a manager lasts now is a year throughout the whole
country and that is not a big time.
"For Jose, I think all good leaders will eventually find a solution. I think
he will find a solution and will get back to normal [but it] is not looking
great at the moment.
"But I know the guy and I know the work he has done in football and I can't
see it lasting long, I can't see it."
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