YOU'RE NOT SPECIAL ANY MOUR

After being sacked by Roma, Jose must accept the fact glory days are long gone

- JOHN CROSS

JOSE MOURINHO deserves to be remembered as one of the all-time great managers.

But his time as a boss at the highest level feels like a thing of the past and that is why it is hard to imagine him returning to the Premier League.

When a few of us were chatting the other day, someone mentioned the idea of Mourinho taking over at Newcastle - and there was a look of disbelief on most faces in the room. He is no longer in the conversation.

If the Saudi owners did that, they'd be going backwards.

The fact is the Special One no longer has the magic touch and what you see now is a manager who is a shadow of his former self. The inspirational coach, who was incredible at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan, is long gone.

Mourinho, 60, received a second successive red card after defeat to city rivals Lazio in the Coppa Italia last week and then compared himself to Harry Potter, suggesting he was his own worst enemy by "raising expectations".

His final game in charge was a 3-1 defeat to AC Milan on Sunday.