He may be the special one, but Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has always reserved respect for at least one manager in the Premier League in his time there. It used to be Sir Alex Ferguson that the Special One looked up to until the Manchester United manager retired.
Now it appears to be one Tony Pulis that is the subject of Jose's admiration.
Mourinho thinks that Pulis is one of the most underrated managers in England, and thinks he is the perfect English manager:
It's simple. If I own an English club, which I don't and which I'd never do, I'd sign Tony Pulis. It's as simple as that.
Speaking at his pre-match conference ahead of facing Tony Pulis' West Bromwich Albion this weekend, Mourinho elaborated on why he views Pulis as such a good manager:
It's a guarantee to achieve what the club wants. He never managed a club that wants to be champions. He never managed a club that wants a top four place. He's always managed clubs who want to survive and who want stability, and he's mathetmatic: what the club wants, he gives.
His record is absolutely amazing, and he does what some people don't understand – but I do – and what other people sometimes don't rate, but I do. Which is the relation between what the manager wants and what the team is.
This isn't the first time that Mourinho has shown support, when he expressed hope he'd return to manage after he left Crystal Palace:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7g4Dz4WL_Y
