Mourinho living on borrowed time?

During the 2005-06 Premier League season, we saw Chelsea, managed by Jose Mourinho at the time, stroll to their second consecutive title. Pundits and bookies were certain that the Blues would be a good bet for a third straight title.

Instead, Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United were able to pip them to the title, and Mourinho’s love-hate relationship with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich hit its first speed bump.

The two disagreed with Mourinho’s transfer policy and their failure to capture the Champions League title after they had invested heavily into the squad. The Portuguese mentor was sacked early the following season, and Chelsea once again had to play second fiddle to United in both the Premier League and Champions League.

In his second stint in charge of Chelsea, he again fell out with the owner and several players and was again shown the door. The same thing had happened at his previous club, Real Madrid and this suggests that for the self proclaimed 'Special One', this is a trend.

With Manchester United unable to keep up with local rivals City last season, the Portuguese manager has fallen into an all too familiar pattern, and it should now surely be just days before Ed Woodward and the Glazers pull the plug on Mourinho’s failed project to take the club back to the top of the English football ladder.

His relationship with record signing and highly influential midfielder Paul Pogba is said to be at its lowest point, and the club’s performance in the transfer window suggests the board did not trust him enough and did not feel like signing the players he demanded, as they did not see a long-term future for him.

His willingness to part with Pogba and Anthony Martial, whom the club have a lot of hope from, would not have gone down well with the board, and the manager can’t be happy that they’re still at the club. To make matters worse, Sunday evening’s loss to Brighton wouldn't have gone down well and will definitely hit the morale of the team.

What we’re seeing from Manchester United this season is something that’s happened before, and Woodward and the Glazers will be foolish if they allow it to go on any further. It seems like Mourinho’s third season curse is about to strike again.

And with reports already suggesting that United are interested in the services of one Zinedine Zidane, one can only wonder when the Glazers will put Mourinho out of his misery. Woodward’s face on Sunday suggested that the manager will be hauled off to the headmaster’s office in the coming days to explain just what happened at the American Express Community Stadium.

Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester United - Premier League