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Mourinho delivers PR masterclass to land United job

Jose Mourinho’s journey to Manchester United is the culmination of an impressive behind-the-scenes campaign of media manipulation.

Jose Mourinho. Photo: Reuters

Jose Mourinho. Photo: Reuters

Jose Mourinho’s journey to Manchester United is the culmination of an impressive behind-the-scenes campaign of media manipulation.

Assistant professors at Harvard Business School — where Alex Ferguson has taught — would call it strategic positioning. It has been a masterclass in PR and playing between the lines.

Mourinho — or more precisely, his close-knit team of agents and fixers — has been laying the ground since Chelsea ditched him in December. Mourinho has long coveted Sir Alex’s former role, and arguably his route to Old Trafford began even before Roman Abramovich gave the Special One his marching orders.

Whatever his intentions were during the first half of the season, which saw Chelsea slump to 16th, Mourinho’s heart did not seem to be in it. His row with club doctor Eva Carneiro may have been classic Mourinho deflection strategy. His later outbursts against his own team, however, showed a total shift in his game plan. He was looking around for something different.

But make no mistake: He felt the pain of being fired and saw it as a threat to his brand. He is hard-wired to succeed at all costs. Soon after he left Stamford Bridge, it appears the feelers were put out to United. What unfolded was what pundits might call an offensive trap. In football, and in PR, this most artful of tactics depends on coordinating movement, timing, and identifying those moments when the opposition is ready to play the ball.

For Mourinho’s job hunt, this involved being talked about and being part of the United story without being seen to raise his head above the parapet. Mourinho’s people helped fuel the rumour mill. He made tactical appearances every few months to stay in the press, such as turning up to support Aitor Karanka’s Middlesbrough at Brighton.

Reports of meetings with Mourinho’s people and two Serie A clubs added to the speculation that the Premier League was about to lose one of its most colourful characters. And what chutzpah to turn up at the David Haye fight on Saturday, just as the news of Louis van Gaal’s sacking was breaking.

Mourinho — like all great celebrities — understands the importance of playing the jeopardy card. The dithering over whether he would take the job — in hindsight, bogus posturing — created a sense of will-he-or-won’t-he tension. When asked in February about a potential move to Old Trafford, he called it “the million-dollar question”, as if invoking some kind of Saturday night high-stakes game show.

Maintaining fame takes more than just being photographed. It is the day in, day out strategic positioning of image and message across a variety of channels. And once again, the Portuguese has produced a winning performance. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

About the author: Mark Borkowski is a public relations expert and media commentator

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