‘When you talk about Manchester City you talk about a love affair. But when you talk about Everton, you are talking about a marriage’.
Those were the words of Howard Kendall when, in November 1990, he ended eleven months in charge of Manchester City to return for a second stint as manager at Everton.
The ensuing three years would make a truism of the adage about never going back. The man who had led Everton through one their finest eras, during a mid-1980’s trophy collecting spree, was unable to recapture that magic.
The optimism which engulfed Goodison Park upon the homecoming of one of its favourite sons had long since washed away by the time Kendall departed again in December 1993. A third appointment in 1997 preceded a season of Everton fighting off the very real threat of relegation, and finished 12 months later with the club’s most decorated boss leaving for the final time.
Jose Mourinho’s quotes on his unveiling as Chelsea manager bore some resemblance to Kendall’s pronouncement twenty-three-and-a-half-years ago. Referring to his relationship with the club’s owner, Mourinho said;
‘I think we are ready to marry again and be happy and successful’.
The Portuguese went on to emphasise the kinship he feels for the Stamford Bridge club.
‘I think of myself not only as a Chelsea manager, because this is the first time in my life that I’ve arrived at a club that I already love.
‘Of course, when I go to a club, I love the club and I wear the shirt with the crest and I give everything I have to do it, but this is the first time where I love it already’.
That strength of feeling for his spiritual home will not be enough to guarantee Mourinho is able to give Chelsea’s exacting owner, and its expectant support, ‘reason to be happy’ with him – the 50 year old’s stated desire.
Nor, however, is there reason to dismiss the chances of one of the world’s foremost coaches repeating the success of his first coming in west London, simply because he’s been and done it before.
The example of Kendall, and that of his Merseyside counterpart Kenny Dalglish, only tell one side of the story. The Liverpool man enjoyed an illustrious first near six-years in charge at Anfield. After succeeding Joe Fagan in 1985, Dalglish went on to win three league titles and two F.A. Cups. His populist reinstatement to the Reds dugout in 2011 heralded 16 curious months which were notable more for off-pitch intrigue and disruption, rather than on-pitch cheer – one League Cup win aside.
Dalglish’s recent experience is in stark contrast to that of Jupp Heynckes. The German has spent the past campaign firmly disproving any idea that an old love is best left in the past. As Bayern Munich boss between 1987 and 1991, Heynckes oversaw two Bundesliga championship winning seasons.
The 68 year-old returned to Bayern with a temporary brief in 2009, but when the call came, two years on, to replace Louis Van Gaal on a permanent basis, there was no reluctance to accept on Heynckes’ part purely because he’d trodden that path in bygone times.
A first campaign of heart-breaking near misses – most painfully losing a Champions League final against Chelsea on home ground – has been quickly banished. Bayern, under the tutelage of their venerable coach, are now domestic double winners and European champions.