Here’s why a Christmas resurrection would be all the more fitting for Jose Mourinho

When Jose Mourinho lifted the Premier League trophy in May, few expected him to be looking for a new job by Christmas.

But there's one reason why the Portuguese coach could look at his Chelsea exit as a fitting opportunity, rather than a disappointment. Back in 1984, the Mourinho family saw its Christmas disrupted when Jose Sr, father of the former Chelsea boss, was sacked by Portuguese top-flight outfit Rio Ave. There is some confusion over the true date of the sacking, with the 52-year-old mistakenly claiming he was "nine or 10" when it happened, but 1984 (with Mourinho Jr. in his early twenties) seems to be correct. “The results had not been good, he lost a game on December 22 or 23. On Christmas Day, the telephone rang and he was sacked in the middle of our lunch," the younger Mourinho is reported to have said. If the same thing happens to Louis van Gaal at Manchester United, allowing Jose Mourinho to take over at Old Trafford before the turn of the year, things will have gone full circle.