ONTD FOOTBALL

One summer without a major signing and six weeks into the season, Mourinho increasingly began to look like that homeless old man on the underground shouting at commuters. Six years into his period of negative net spend (at one point, Wenger had spent -9 million after the stadium move when the amounts were averaged over several years) and Wenger looked as suave as ever in his Savile Row suits. And he never bullied his players, threw his medical staff under the bus (and think, for a second, how easy that would have been sometimes - even this season) and never once flirted with relegation.

I write with no aggression (and I am likely making points anyone in this thread would agree with - you included, as I see you are a fan of Wenger's) but I am making a serious point. If anything, Jose's closer observers would do well to realize that a single summer without brilliant signings or a refreshed squad finished him. He couldn't threaten his established stars with new replacements. He had no new (not yet exhausted) brilliance to work with. He only had some players he had alienated with his bullying.

It takes grace, flexibility, loyalty and some incredible management (man management, club management) to do what Wenger had to do before the tangible success started again two years ago.

Put bluntly, he's a serious manager, able to cope with periods of financial stringency, able to take responsibility for an organization for two decades. Jose is just a coach.