WHY SAY ANYTHING?

If Jose Mourinho is serious about the Manchester United job he is remaining very calm and quiet about the fact.

It could be said that, by staying completely out of the limelight, he is adopting exactly the right tactics to secure himself the position.

Whether he likes it or not there are obviously detractors at Old Trafford and these are the people he needs to bring onside.

Of the people who matter the chances are that he would have the support of Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill. This would probably be enough to secure the backing of Ed Woodward who, as somebody who knows very little about football, has to rely on the knowledge of others when making managerial appointments. It is also important that he trusts the right people because, at the end of the day, he is the one shouldering the responsibility, hence his reluctance to dismiss Louis van Gaal.

The biggest name in the anti-Mourinho corner seems to be Sir Bobby Charlton, if we can believe what we read in the noble press. Now, however, his dissenting voice is less likely to be heard.

It is more than two years since Mourinho was overlooked when United employed the ill-fated David Moyes. At the time this appeared to be a Ferguson-led appointment, although we also know that, more than likely, his first two choices were Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho. Neither became United manager for differing reasons. Guardiola went to Bayern Munich having never returned a call to Ferguson following a lunch in New York, and Mourinho went back to Chelsea, not necessarily as his first choice but, at the time, the United job was not on offer to HIM.

It can only be assumed that Mourinho was overlooked because of his personality as his record is comparable with anyone in world football except, perhaps, Sir Alex himself. If this is the case then it would be safe to assume that Sir Bobby Charlton had some input as to whether or not Mourinho was the man!

Now, however, his influence has waned somewhat. After the failure of David Moyes and Louis van Gaal because, whatever happens this season, van Gaal HAS been a failure, Sir Bobby will not have the input he once had when a new manager is discussed. The two “safe pairs of hands”, which is how Moyes and van Gaal will have been perceived, have failed.

Now is the time to employ a manager who will get United back to where they belong, the top!

Guardiola certainly falls into this category of manager but it seems much more likely that he will be managing Manchester City next season. He already has contacts and friends within the club and would need to change very little.

So that leaves Jose Mourinho as the outstanding candidate. Managing a club like United is never going to be easy. They are not as modern or forward-thinking as, for example, Manchester City. They have an outdated method of handling transfers whereby Woodward, someone who, as previously stated, knows nothing about football, regularly pays over the odds to other clubs when purchasing players. Manchester City have two ex-Barcelona players handling transfers and usually get what they want.

United have a misguided belief that they should be amongst the top clubs in the world just because of who they are and, when a problem arises they try to buy their way out of it. This solution is fine when the right manager buys the right players, but not when a failing manager spends fortunes which do not improve the team.

All of these things would test the patience of a coach like Mourinho. If he has a list of players he would like the club to buy then he expects to get most of them, not find the club haggling over a £million here or there, or being beaten to the player by another club. No, Mourinho likes to get what he wants which, to some people, makes United the wrong choice of club for HIM.

So yes, Jose Mourinho is making all the right moves at the moment. By keeping his head down and remaining quiet and dignified he is doing his chances of becoming the next manager of Manchester United no harm whatsoever.

It will be interesting to see what happens at the end of this season should van Gaal decide to quit or if he is fired. Will Mourinho be offered the job and, if he is, will he take it?