A few new names among Mourinho’s coaching staff at Spurs. The club have confirmed the appointments of João Sacramento (assistant coach), Carlos Lalin (fitness coach), Nuno Santos (goalkeeper coach), Ricardo Formosinho (tactical analyst) and Giovanni Cerra (technical analyst).
The other live blog currently on the Guardian website is the launch of a Labour manifesto. Corbyn and Mourinho have a lot in common: two men looking to set out their plans for the future to bring their outfit back to the top. Corbyn does potentially have a bigger budget, though.
Levy and Mourinho, a match made in north London.
Ps you can get in touch in the usual places state above. Please tell me about your lunch and caffeine exploits.
Before we get to Mourinho, we will be hearing from Unai Emery and Brendan Rodgers. I feel the latter will in a cheerier mood than the former, who is under plenty of pressure. They will both be coming up at 1.30pm.
A bit more from Pellegrini on Mourinho. As with most of his press conferences, he’s not too excitable on any subject:
He is not my friend but he is not my enemy either.
Maybe I think a different way but he is not my enemy. Everyone has their options to play football the way they want and what they want to say.
[Mourinho] is just in charge of the team for two days so I don’t think he can change too much, they will play in a similar way. That is not an important problem for us to solve, we must give a good performance as a team.
Manuel Pellegrin(o)i has been talking prior to West Ham welcoming Mourinho for his first game in charge. The Hammers boss says Mourinho is “not my friend but not my enemy”. Adding he might have a drink with him after the match.
Mourinho’s new aim is to avoid falling out with his players, which has blighted his recent roles. How will Kane react to his style? Can he get the best out of Alli? Will he wantaway stars change their mind?
Sky Sports News are currently at Brighton for some reasons or other. José isn’t going to be there!! All we care about is Mourinho. It’s OK, they’ve just wished Lewis Dunk at happy birthday, which is sweet. I take it all back,
Updated
Preamble
Welcome one and all.
José Mourinho is the new Tottenham boss, while Mauricio Pochettino is left to lick some wounds and ponder his next move. Mourinho is the man of now and the next four years, supposedly. Today he will respond to the why, what and who in terms of Tottenham but he knows the ultimate answer will come on the pitch over the coming months.
In the press release churned out by the club he explained that he’s very happy and refreshed but an hour in the company of my colleagues might change his mind whether being back in the rigours of Premier League management is sensible. Chelsea ground him down, so did Real Madrid and Manchester United became a dead end for a man once deemed to be the hottest property in the business.
Spurs are in a bit of a hole, sitting 14th in the league and with a host of players eyeing a summer departure when they massive contracts end. Mourinho will be looking to revitalise a squad who have not recovered from a gruelling season which ended in Champions League heartache. Is Mourinho the man to do that? We will find out in due course. In the meantime, we will just be pleased to learn whether he is the Special, Happy or Monied One in his latest gig.
He’s due to front up to the media at 2pm GMT, but before then we’ll be hearing from fellow Premier League managers at their pre-match Thursday press conferences.
