[attach id=251758 size="medium"]If Jose Mourinho wants to go down as one of the greatest managers of all time he needs to pick a club and guide it to consistent and regular domestic and European success. Photo: Reuters[/attach]

It’s surely no more than a matter of time before Jose Mourinho makes his emotion return Chelsea.

Rumours that the ‘special one’ could be ready to leave Real Madrid and return to his spiritual home in London have been circulating for months.

But following Real’s elimination from the Champions League on Tuesday, he gave the clearest indication yet that he is on his way ‘home’.

“I will be where people love me to be,” he said of his plans for next season.

And despite his successes in Portugal, Italy and Spain, there is nowhere he is more loved than at Stamford Bridge.

It’s nearly six years since he departed Chelsea following a rift with owner Roman Abramovich. And while both the club and Mourinho have enjoyed success in that time, it has always felt more like ‘when’ than ‘if’ he would return.

Abramovich would be mad not to take this opportunity to bury the hatchet with Mourinho

You sense that Mourinho has now finished his European tour and is ready to lay down some roots.

He has proved he can win titles and trophies in a variety of countries. But despite adding to his personal collection of triumphs, he has never fully connected with a fan base like he did in London.

Rumours of unrest among players have been around pretty much since he arrived at Madrid, for example, and the supporters have often treated him with an air of distaste.

Mourinho will have no such problems at Chelsea, where he knows a hero’s welcome awaits. And his ego would relish that.

Of course, there is one stumbling block to the return of this particular prodigal son – his dispute with the man who actually owns the club. But from his side, Abramovich would be mad not to take this opportunity to bury the hatchet with Mourinho.

Simply put, it’s a move that will go a long way towards repairing Abramovich’s reputation with Chelsea’s fans, who were not very pleased when he sacked Roberto Di Matteo and absolutely livid when he appointed Rafa Benitez.

More than that though, there are compelling football reasons for bringing Mourinho back. His very presence on the training pitch and in the stadium is probably worth at least a title, even without any major changes.

And you can rest assured he will have some changes up his sleeve as his looks to start building a dynasty not dissimilar to the one Sir Alex Ferguson has created at Old Trafford.

At 50, he is hardly old, but he knows if he really wants to go down as one of the greatest managers of all time he needs to pick a club and guide it to consistent and regular domestic and European success.

He wants a legacy and Chelsea is the natural place for him to achieve one. It’s a match made in heaven and one that I fully expect to be officially confirmed in the coming weeks.

In fact, after the two protagonists were apparently spotted dining together in London last week, I’d bet my house on it.

So expect him to take over at Man City…

A bitter twist

Last weekend’s clash between Brentford and Doncaster Rovers was one of those high-stake games that the last day of the season only occasionally throws up.

Whichever team won the match was destined for automatic promotion to the Championship while the losers would be consigned to the play-offs.

For the most part it was a tight and uninspiring encounter until the game entered injury time at the end of the 90 minutes still goalless. Then a reckless challenge in the box gifted Brentford a penalty. Score and they were promoted. Simple.

However, Brentford didn’t score. They hit the crossbar. And just to rub an insanely large amount of salt into a very open wound, from the rebound Doncaster stormed down the pitch and slotted the ball in at the other end.

A rollercoaster ride of emotions for both sets of fans that shows how, right till the very end, the football gods love toying with us fans.

Say that again Jamie?

Sky Sports announced last week they have signed Jamie Carragher as one of their expert football analysts.

The retiring Liverpool defender will join a team of television pundits that already includes Gary Neville, Graeme Souness and Jamie Redknapp.

Obviously, Carragher’s long time at the top level of the game and vast experience made him the perfect candidate for the position.

However, I do foresee one small drawback with his appointment – the vast majority of viewers won’t have the foggiest clue what he is saying.

Whenever I have heard Carragher interviewed after a game I have sat there waiting for a translator’s voice to kick in. So heavy is his Liverpool accent, it often sounds like he is speaking in some exotic foreign language.

I can only imagine Sky Sports are going to spend the next few months giving the lad a bit of training to get his accent under control.

Otherwise they will have to start putting subtitles on their football shows…

Not my definition of young

When it comes to the Professional Footballers’ Association awards I am in total agreement with their choice for Player of the Year.

Gareth Bale has been in fantastic form and, while it would be unfair to describe Tottenham Hotspur as a one-man team, it has to be said that much of their good work this season has been down to him.

Not only has he played well creatively, he has also chipped in with 19 league goals, a great return for a player who is not an out-and-out striker. This is the second time Bale has won the award – voted for by all professional players in England, his previous success coming in 2011.

Of course, considering his main rival for the award was Luis Suarez, whose name was booed when it was read out at the awards, it’s hardly surprising Bale walked away with this year’s crown.

What was surprising however, and this is where I think the awards may have lost the plot a bit, is that Bale was also voted PFA Young Player of the Year.

I could understand that, of course, if Bale had just broken into the first team. To have a season like the one he just did at the first attempt would have been totally deserving of both awards.

But Bale is hardly a fresh face kid in football terms. He made his first team debut for Southampton back in 2005 and was playing for Spurs’ first team as long ago as 2007.

So far in his career he has racked up almost 300 appearances for club and country, scoring more than 70 goals.

That to me makes him a seasoned professional.

Surely the Young Player of the Year award should be reserved for those players that have just made the breakthrough into the big time, not for those who broke through six or seven years ago.

I’m not taking anything away from Bale, who is well on the way to becoming the best British player of his generation, and one of the top players on the planet.

But I just think I would like to see the ‘young’ award given to someone new and fresh, rather than someone who has already been there and done it.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade