DAMIEN DUFF AND Jose Mourinho had a famously warm relationship during their time together at Chelsea and a new book sheds further light into the duo’s rapport.
Jose Mourinho: Rise of the Translator by 21-year-old Irish author Ciaran Kelly tells the story of how Mourinho and the renowned Irish comic Mario Rosenstock once played a prank on the former Chelsea winger.
Rosenstock’s impersonations of Mourinho had caught the attention of the Portuguese coach, who was so impressed by the accuracy of the Irish comic’s portrayal that he invited him over in 2005 to give a performance to the entire team on the eve of Chelsea’s vital Premier League game with Everton.
Duff was injured at the time and missed Rosenstock’s appearance, but he still ultimately became the butt of the star’s joke.
“It’s a great story,” Kelly tells TheScore.ie. “Rosenstock met with Mourinho and his staff after the performance and they were thinking ‘what should we do?’ Mourinho said: I’ll give you Damien’s number, give him a ring. So Rosenstock does his routine on [a confused] Duff, tells him I need you for the game against Everton tomorrow, and Damien said: ‘I’m injured, I can’t do it.’
“And he said: ‘Alright, well I’m going to sell you to Walsall,’ so Duff immediately copped it after that.”
Kelly says the anecdote gives an insight into the easy-going relationship between the manager and the player, explaining: “There was a clear bond there. At the time Duff left, it was a new Chelsea coming in and ironically, it was a Chelsea that Mourinho was never able to fully buy into. I think of that 2006-2007 campaign. They won two cups. They didn’t have a great league challenge. United ended up winning quite handsomely. And obviously then, he was gone by the following September. So Duff was a very valued team member, particularly in 2004-2005, when he really had a great season.”
Rosenstock, meanwhile, has similarly positive memories of Mourinho, as Kelly explains.
“I talked to [Rosenstock] in August and obviously Mourinho had come back and the actual glee in his face, talking about it is quite funny. He wouldn’t have done Mourinho much in his stand-up routines, whereas Roy Keane has obviously always been a key component. But he can really push that home now because Keane’s back. It’s kind of similar with Mourinho in a way. The chapter in the book was a great comedic break.“He was very honest about [his performance in front of the players]. Not many of the Chelsea squad spoke good English at the time. It was the flattest gig he ever did. His wife wasn’t allowed into the gig. You get a really good insight into Mourinho’s circle because he had never brought in someone from outside the Chelsea football club before. Yet he was happy on the eve of the game.
“Most people would have thought he was doing his tactical chalkboards, but here he was having a glass of wine with Rosenstock, getting him to do the Mick McCarthy impression, telling him Roy Keane should be your next manager.”
And far from purely being a bit of harmless light-hearted humour, Kelly explains how Mourinho’s use of Rosenstock served to underline an important point to his squad.
“I said to Rosenstock: ‘Don’t you think that was typical Mourinho arrogance, the fact that he brought him in.’ He’s bringing in a guy who takes the piss out of him. But that would be the wrong way of looking at it according to Rosenstock. All these players would’ve been on £100,000 or £150,000 a week. But none of them had a song written about them in little old Ireland, did they? No one had someone doing impressions of them.
“In a way it was an exercise in reducing tension with the team. It was February 2005, when they had a very tough game with Everton. It was also a way of showing that ‘you guys might think you’re some of the best players in the world, but you’re not quite in my league yet. I have guys doing impressions of me, I’ve cracked Ireland.’ So it was a fantastic little story.”
Moreover, it was also a particularly memorable occasion for Rosenstock, whose career has since gone from strength to strength.
“I think everyone knew [Rosenstock] went over there but he really managed to detail how Mourinho was on Sky Sports News, while he was hungover at a hotel wedding in Stillorgan. Essentially, Mourinho came on the television and pointed at the television – Truman Show-style — and said I want him to come and do the song for me. And Rosenstock nearly spilled his pint.”
Jose Mourinho: The Rise of the Translator is published by Bennion Kearny. More details here.
@ PD..You’ve little to be worrying about
Is it me , or is the word “obviously” used too much in peoples vocabulary these days. It really annoys me when people say it numerous times.
Ah to be honest I kinda know where you’re coming from, a guy who worked in my office a few years ago couldn’t have a conversation with a client without getting the word ‘basically’ into every sentence at least twice. Done my bloody nut in listening to it.
Genuinely?
Keith, “essentially” is the new “basically”.
And “You see”, “like” and “the thing is”.
Got to love Irish people. Lose their accents 5 minutes after entering another country. Become as American as apple pie after watching The OC on television. Use the words totes and morto without any kind of self-awareness.
“You know like” or ” we went to the pub like” Gggggrrrrrrrr lol lol like
If sport was that “Obvious” there’d be no need to bloody interview anyone, would there?
Because everything is obviously obvious!
Yes obviously..
It’s basically obvious to me that Mario is great!!!!
I’ve been thinking about it and came to the conclusion that, football,snooker and dart players say “Obviously” nearly every sentence, This all because the majority of them are, uneducated and lack grammatical skill.
Next time you listen to a rugby,golf or cricket player being interviewed, listen to how well they articulate themselves and refrain from using the word “Obviously”.
You see ,some things are never that obvious, that’s why you’re being interviewed mate.
I’ll give you three examples, James Milner, Listen to him say” Obviously” every second sentence, in every interview, in his horrible yorkshire accent.
Mark Selby the snooker player, Says” Obviously” a ridiculous and unnecessary amount of times.
Last and not least Roy Keane,who is in fact a hero of mine, Listen to his 40 minute Irish managers press conference. He says “obviously” well in excess of 25 times.
Not sure I agree with this.
Most Rugby players appear to be quite articulate and have a decent grasp of the English language. The mjority of them are well educated middle class boys too. Footballers from these shores are traditionally from lower middle class/ working class backgrounds, but you would be surprised by how many of them have been full-time educated up until 18.
James Milner was a “first class” student at his school; chose Football over a course at University. Clarke carlisle was another culprit for giving banal interviews, ditto Jermaine Jenas. Both of these lads have university education.
All of the top clubs make sure their trainees are conditioned to be media savvy- i.e that they are smart enough to know they have to watch what they say whilst being interviewed in the 24/7 media era. Very easy for their words to be misconstrued or twisted in the press.
Hence the common spread usage of banalities like ‘obviously’, ‘over the moon’, ‘gutted’, ‘passion’, hunger (stand up Gaa/ Hurlers for that one!!)
Like it’s pretty obvious to see it like
Like it’s pretty obvious to see it like