Former Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho has insisted he has ‘no regrets’ about his time at the club, despite being sacked 17 months into a four-year contract last season.
However, despite saying he holds no grudge towards the club, the two-time Champions League winner has still called it a ‘strange thing to happen’.
Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino at the helm in north London in November 2019 with the billing that the ‘serial winner’ would be the man to finally deliver overdue silverware.
But despite guiding the club to the Carabao Cup final in 2021, a poor run of results in the Premier League ultimately cost the Portuguese his job – his third sacking in the space of six years after being relieved of his duties at Chelsea in 2015 and Manchester United in 2018.
“I don't have regrets. I don't have bad feelings,” Mourinho told Sky Sports. “There are lots of nice people in Tottenham and I wish them the best. Even to Mr Levy. But for a guy with my career and my history I think it was a strange thing to happen.
"I am in the maturity of my career and also my life where I don't have bad feelings. I just try to accept the things the way they are.”
Asked if it hurt to be sacked by Spurs, Mourinho replied: “Yes.”
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Since leaving Spurs, Mourinho has returned to Serie A where he previously enjoyed success with Inter and has guided Roma to the inaugural Europa Conference League final – the club’s first continental final since 1984 when they lost to Liverpool on penalties in the European Cup.
“In the end, [leaving Tottenham] opened the door for me to be in Rome and I'm very happy to be in Rome,” he said. “Of course, I would love to be in a position of fighting to win titles or to be in the Champions League where I played 160 or 170 games there.
"But I am loved here. I love the people here. I feel very much a part of the empathy created between the fans and the club and myself and the players. I'm very happy here."
Roma and Mourinho will remain out of the Champions League in 2022/23, trailing the top four in Serie A by ten points with only two games left to play and facing stiff competition from Fiorentina and Atalanta to qualify for any form of European football via domestic channels.
Should they beat Feyenoord in the Conference League final later this month, they will be guaranteed a place in next season’s Europa League group stage.
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Source : 90min