Just call me the Happy One, says Mourinho on return to Stamford Bridge
Portuguese showman insists he is returning to Stamford Bridge as a better, wiser manager
Jose Mourinho returned to Chelsea yesterday and the smiling "Special One" said he was now the "Happy One" on his second coming as manager of the Premier League club he has always loved.
With some 250 reporters from home and abroad and dozens of television crews crowding into a suite at Stamford Bridge, there was never any doubt about the Portuguese retaining his media pulling power of old.
I have a contract for four years. I hope to go the last day of that contract.
"If I have to choose a nickname for this period, I would choose 'the Happy One'," he declared. "I am very happy.
"Time flies. It looks like it was a couple of days but it was nine years ago when I first became manager," he said after entering the room to a barrage of camera flashes.
"I have the same nature, I am the same person," the title-winning former Real Madrid and Inter Milan manager assured, adding that he had the same heart and emotions.
"I would describe myself as a very happy person. It is the first time I arrive in a club where I already love the club. Before, I had to build an emotional relationship and I only came to love the club a little later."
Mourinho won the 2005 and 2006 Premier League titles in his first spell with the west London club but departed in 2007.
It was widely reported that he had suffered a breakdown in his relationship with billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, a claim the Portuguese was keen to play down. "I read and I kept listening I was fired, I was sacked, we had a complete break of relationships," he said. "That was not true. Many people didn't believe in that, but it was mutual agreement. At the time we thought it was best for both of us, me and the club. It was a sad moment. Of course it was a sad moment, but I don't regret that decision."
Since leaving Chelsea, Mourinho spent two years at Inter Milan where he won two Serie A titles, the domestic cup and the Champions League before moving to Real Madrid where he won a La Liga title and a King's Cup.
The Portuguese has never spent more than three years managing at a single club, but he hopes to at least to see out his four-year deal with Chelsea.
"Yes, and now I'm prepared for that," he said when asked if he wanted more stability in his career.
"I have a contract for four years. I hope to go the last day of that contract. If the club then wants me to stay, I'll be more than happy."
