Former Newcastle and West Ham United manager Alan Pardew said that the reaction of Chelsea’s assistant manager Marco Ianni towards Jose Mourinho on Saturday was ‘ridiculous’.
Ianni ran past the Manchester United bench and appeared to swipe in Mourinho’s direction before he continued his provocations after Ross Barkley scored late equalizer in the 96th minute.
“This guy, the second manager or whoever he is, his first action is unacceptable and the second action is also doubly unacceptable,” Pardew said.
“The man of the match is that steward stopping Jose. If you’re going, to be a top manager of any sport, you’ve got to have fire in your belly and if you haven’t then don’t do the job.
“In a situation like that, they’ve conceded in the last second, he’s back at his old football club and you have an assistant manager go up into his face like that, it’s totally ridiculous.” Pardew continued.
After the game, both managers discussed the incident in their press conference. Sarri admitted his staff has done wrong thing and took Ianni to Mourinho to apologise.
“I’m glad he apologised and I’m glad Jose accepted his apology. In Jose’s situation with the pressure he is under, that is the last thing he wanted. He’ll be worried this morning about who people will blame and you can go in that kind of circle. It’s not nice.” Pardwe said.
Mourinho won three Premier League titles in two spells at Stamford Bridge. The Portuguese manager also won FA Cup, three League Cups and a Community Shield in west London.
Jose Mourinho held up three fingers to the Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge. (Source:www.usatoday.com)
“That’s shows where we are as a society a bit, the cabbage thrown at Steve Bruce when he left Aston Villa and stuff like that, it’s unsavoury really.” Pardew said.
“What Mourinho did at that football club was phenomenal. I went there many times as an opposing manager just to watch and admire how good those Chelsea teams were under Jose.
“And he reminded the, three championships I won here, give me a bit of respect. O course, respect in the game, particularly when the fans have had a few beers, is not easy to get.” Pardew added.
