THE only thing missing was a Manchester United scarf draped elegantly round Jose Mourinho’s neck.
Short of that, the Real Madrid boss couldn’t have delivered a more obvious job application for the manager’s position at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.
Signing autographs for fans, commiserating with Alex Ferguson after Nani was sent off and then claiming the best team lost, Mourinho engaged in a massive charm offensive.
Earlier, as he moved towards the technical area for the first time, the Stretford End bellowed: “Sit down, Mourinho!”
Giving them a submissive wave, the little blighter turned on his heel and did just that.
The accompanying roar of approval brought a sardonic smile to his lips.
Oh, yes, the still perfectly-formed 50-year-old knows full well that, to coin a phrase, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
As we know, it hasn’t always been like this for a man who once managed a certain West London club described by UEFA as the enemies of football.
The man whose accusations about a half-time meeting between Anders Frisk and Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard at the Nou Camp in 2005 that he claimed would later result in a red card for Didier Drogba ended with the referee’s premature retirement and a huge stain on Mourinho’s career.
The man who was fined £200,000, later reduced to £75,000, for a clandestine meeting with Ashley Cole, then at Arsenal.
The man who called Arsene Wenger a “Viewer” for what he perceived to be an obsession with Chelsea.
The man who, most infamously of all, stuck his finger into the eye of then Barcelona assistant coach Tito Vilanova at the end of an ugly Spanish Supercup clash with Madrid’s arch rivals. And then called him ‘Pito’... Spanish slang for penis. And so on and so forth.
On Tuesday night, though, it looked like mantequilla wouldn’t have melted in the Special One’s mouth.
There was no gloating, no euphoric dashes along the touchline, no sly winks or gamesmanship.
Instead, we had a sympathetic hug for Ferguson, a premature exit down the tunnel and, afterwards, laudatory acclaim for his vanquished rival as “a man without equal” and the opposition as a team “with the mentality of lions”.
What a display, what an audition!
The only question left to ask was whether he had made a trip to make-up before a performance that couldn’t have been eclipsed by any of Hollywood’s greats.
Unlike many of my colleagues, I have a soft spot for Jose Mourinho dos Santos Felix.
Sure, some of his excesses have been unforgiveable.
But there is still something about the naughty schoolboy in him — the laundry-basket jape and other, assorted pieces of stroke-pulling — that has brought a smile and perspective to the over-analysed and far-too-serious business of football.
Yes, it was a well-planned and orchestrated Mourinho production at Old Trafford.
But the PR campaign to win over a United board for the job he covets above all others did not just start on Tuesday night.
It has been going on for the last four or five weeks.
Back home in Madrid, he has been uncharacteristically quiet... a calculated gambit that has reaped enormous dividends.
His team has responded with a run of just one defeat in 16 games, two outstanding victories over Barcelona and a gradual thawing in the icy relationship between him, the club and the Bernabeu fans.
And what he has said — in pre-match press conferences before both Real’s Champions League games against United — has been hugely flattering about both United and their veteran boss.
No doubt, he had heard the noises coming out of Old Trafford.
How Bobby Charlton had said he pontificated too much for his liking — how a United manager would never have got involved in the Vilanova incident.
Peter Schmeichel, former goalkeeping giant and United ambassador, went further when he claimed that Mourinho would never succeed Ferguson as manager because he brought too much baggage with him.
Schmeichel also pointed out that Mourinho had not lasted more than three years at Chelsea, Inter Milan or Real Madrid.
He didn’t have to explain this was in stark contrast to the two most successful managers in United’s history — Matt Busby (24 years) and Ferguson (27 years).
Mourinho’s response was to turn on the charm. Whether it works remains to be seen. With Ferguson indicating he has no immediate intention to leave Old Trafford, Mourinho may well have to continue his push for the Holy Grail at another club.
One last stopping-off point before his intended ascent to the summit.
The bush telegraph, though, hints that Jorge Mendes — agent of both Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo — has been dreaming up a job lot of both his clients for interested clubs.
That is bait that United would find hard to resist.
The exemplary behaviour of the two men at Old Trafford on Tuesday night will consequently be viewed in certain quarters as the first act in the most dramatic transfer coup of all time.


Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4828384/Jose-Mourinho-turns-on-the-charm-in-bid-for-Manchester-United-job.html#ixzz3qFLoincl

I'd like to see Mourinho at Old Trafford. Though his character attracts scandal, but his presence electrifies wherever he is and brings trophies.