Jose Mourinho

Mourinho is the self-titled 'Special One', from his days at Chelsea, and his rise from being a mere translator to managing one of the richest clubs in the world was nothing short of meteoric.

Having left the Stamford Bridge club in 2007, the Portuguese boss moved to Italy and took charge of one of the best clubs in Serie A - Inter Milan - where he continued to impress, despite gaining a whole new set of detractors.

No stranger to controversy, Mourinho never played professionally (although his father Felix had represented the Portuguese national team as a goalkeeper); and instead, from a relatively young age, focused his sights on a coaching career.

He had held low-profile positions at Estrela Amadora and Vitoria Setubal before taking his first high-profile role in 1992 when appointed to work under Bobby Robson at Sporting Lisbon. Mourinho initially worked as Robson's translator, but he turned out to be much more than a linguist.

From an early age he had been fascinated by football tactics and impressed by his attention to detail, work ethic and passion, Robson would give him increasingly more responsibility with the first team.

When Robson moved on to Porto in 1993, it was no surprise that he took his friend and colleague with him; Mourinho duly became his assistant manager and in three years at Porto, they clinched two titles.

The Robson-Mourinho combo then moved on to Barcelona in 1996, where they won a pair of Spanish Cups (1997 and 1998) and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1997. However, the Nou Camp was to be the last staging post for the partnership. In 1998 Robson received an offer from PSV Eindhoven that was too good to refuse - and instead of following his tutor to another new club, Mourinho decided to chance his arm away from Robson and stayed on at Barca in a coaching capacity, this time under new manager Louis Van Gaal.

However, under the Dutchman, Mourinho's days were numbered and he was forced out of the job as Van Gaal tried, unsuccessfully, to re-unite the coaching team that had led Ajax to so much success.

Mourinho did not have long to wait before landing his first full managerial post though, when he was appointed Benfica boss in 2000. But his reign was short-lived, lasting only nine games before he resigned due to problems in the boardroom.

Mourinho's considerable ambition and drive meant that he wasn't going to be out of a job for long, and within months of taking a new job in 2001 he had taken perennial strugglers Uniao de Leiria to a fourth place finish and a European adventure.

FC Porto took note of the young manager's talents, and when their top job became available after a poor start to the 2002-03 season it was immediately offered to Mourinho, who jumped at the chance to have a crack at the league title with a talented squad.

Mourinho's team, full of pace, power, and attacking flair was supremely organised and stormed to the league title, the domestic cup, and a dramatic win in the UEFA Cup final over Martin O'Neill's Celtic. It was a truly remarkable achievement, and Mourinho was heralded across Europe as a genius as his stock rose to unprecedented levels.

Almost inevitably the 2003-04 season yielded more success with Porto retaining their league title but, of course, the outstanding success was their clinching of the European Cup after a 3-0 victory against Monaco. Their journey to the final included some memorable scalps, notably Manchester United, after which Sir Alex Ferguson and Mourinho traded on the touchline.

When Chelsea came calling in May 2004 Mourinho realised he had taken Porto as far as he could go and jumped at the chance to take on one of Europe's most challenging (and best paid) jobs.

On his arrival at Stamford Bridge he immediately gave notice of his media skills labelling himself 'The Special One' and then set about splashing billionaire club owner Roman Abramovich's cash.

In his first season Mourinho spent £70m on players including Porto pair Ricardo Carvalho (£19.8m) and Paulo Ferreira (£13.3m) , but it proved to be money well spent as he guided the club to their first title in 50 years losing just one Premiership match and finishing the season 12 points ahead of runners-up Arsenal.

In that debut 2004-05 season there was also a Carling Cup win over Liverpool and no shortage of controversy, much of it featuring Liverpool. Mourinho gave Liverpool fans the 'hush' sign during the Carling Cup final and flew off the handle over a ''ghost goal'' scored by Luis Garcia in the Champions League semi-final defeat at Anfield.

Alongside glittering success in that season on the pitch, Mourinho and Chelsea had numerous run-ins with the authorities. The most high-profile case came with the Ashley Cole 'tapping-up' affair, as the boss, along with club officials, had a series of meetings with the Arsenal defender at a London hotel and led to player, manager and club being charged by the Football Association.

It was the beginning of a breakdown in relations with Gunners boss Arsene Wenger which would result in a long-running public feud.

Mourinho also hit trouble in the Champions League, when he alleged that Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard had visited Swedish referee Anders Frisk at half-time during the first leg of their tie at the Nou Camp in February. UEFA accused Chelsea of making false declarations and "deliberately creating a poisoned and negative ambience" after they refused to attend the post-match news conference and submitted a report detailing their allegations.

The referee then received death threats from Chelsea fans and announced his retirement from refereeing. UEFA's head of refereeing Volker Roth described Mourinho as an "enemy of football". At the hearing Mourinho was handed a two-match touchline ban and a fine of around £9,000; the club was fined around £45,000.

Despite the controversy surrounding Mourinho he continued, for the most part, to have a good rapport with the press. Always willing to produce a sound-bite for the thronged media men he was a dream for the tabloids.

Mourinho furthered strengthened ahead of 2005-06, adding Shaun Wright-Phillips, Asier Del Horno and Michael Essien to an already hugely talented squad. After a bright start, the club started to lose for the first time in his tenure and a well-publicised spat with Wenger dominated headlines.

However, by the end of the season Chelsea had picked themselves up and ran out Premiership winners by eight points, Mourinho's second title in two years in England. However, the club's Champions League hopes were dashed by a re-match with old rivals Barcelona in the first knockout round.

The summer of 2006 saw Mourinho add another £50m worth of talent to his already impressive squad with Andrei Shevchenko, Salomen Kalou, John Obi Mikel, Hilario, Khalid Boulahrouz and Ashley Cole arriving at the Bridge. But, despite their wealth, Chelsea stuttered and £30m striker Shevchenko in particular proved to be a flop.

Over the course of the 2006-07 season speculation grew over Mourinho's future thanks to alleged poor relations with Abramovich, a power struggle with sporting director Frank Arnesen and Abramovich advisor Piet de Visser and doubt over who was in charge of transfer policy.

Manchester United wrestled the Premiership title away from Stamford Bridge at the end of the 2006-07 season and denied Mourinho a third straight English title and fifth consecutive title after back-to-back league crowns in Portugal and England.

Mourinho was able to get some revenge and appease his boss by beating United in the FA Cup final after having already beating Arsenal in the Carling Cup final earlier in the season.

Two trophies would constitute a good season at most clubs, but without the Premiership title and having lost to Liverpool in the Champions League semi-finals for the second tie in three season, Mourinho was aware he was close to the exit.

The club set a new English record for unbeaten league matches at home in August 2007 - as their 64 consecutive matches beat the record held previously by Liverpool for an unbeaten run between 1978 and 1981 - but they did not begin the 2007-08 season well.

After losing to Aston Villa, drawing with Blackburn and then Rosenborg in the Champions League, Mourinho left the club 'by mutual consent' on September 20, 2007, amid rumours of a bust-up with the boardroom thought to stem from a breakdown in his relationship with skipper John Terry.

Mourinho left the club the most successful manager in Chelsea's history, having won five trophies for the club in three years and gone undefeated in all his home league games.

It took until June 2008 for him to get into his new role - taking over from Roberto Mancini at Serie A giants Internazionale on a three-year contract. He claimed to have learnt Italian in three weeks and the Italian press immediately took a dislike to his management style and the braggadocios persona which has won him so many friends in England.

After a summer-long but ultimately failed courtship of Chelsea's Frank Lampard Mourinho signed winger Mancini, midfielder Sulley Muntari and Portuguese winger Ricardo Quaresma to his squad and won his first trophy for the club in August, beating Roma to win the Italian Supercup.

Taking Inter to the top of the Serie A table, he showed why he is regarded as one of the best managers in the game.

However, as ever controversy was never far behind during his first season in Italy. Mourinho infuriated his peers by strongly hinting that Italian coaches are influenced by their club presidents when making team selections and then continued to snipe via the media.

He was also involved in an alleged 'punch' confrontation with a fan, after the Champions League defeat to Man Utd, although the case was later dropped.

One of the most controversial, but talented, managers in the game, Mourinho will have the pick of the world's clubs if he chooses to leave Inter. Keen to build a dynasty at the San Siro, his short-term future seems assured; although he has made his intentions clear to manage Portugal before his glittering career comes to close.