How Jose (AKA Mr Charming) influences referees... the official for the second leg of United v Real must be strong

You don’t meet too many people in life who have a certain presence when they walk into a room. Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson both have this special something, but they use it in very different ways.

Jose Mourinho is Mr Charming with referees. He is most effective in domestic leagues when he knows each referee personally.

Referees are held in much higher regard in mainland Europe, not revered, just respected. When Mourinho first arrived at Chelsea in 2004, one of the first things he did was invite me to the training ground to introduce himself. He knew I was one of the leading referees in the country and, as it turned out, I ended up refereeing six Chelsea games that season.

Battle: Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho have both influenced referees in different ways

Dark arts: Jose Mourinho is Mr Charming when it comes to officials

He was very charming and introduced me to the team as ‘the best referee in Europe’. (I had refereed Porto three times and they had won every game which probably helped).

He works with such a charm that you don’t think you’re being worked. Before the game he is lovely, too.

I was in charge of his very first Premier League match, a 1-0 victory over Manchester United. He asked me afterwards if everything was OK for me and I flippantly replied that the referee’s room needed a lick of paint to say the least!

Five weeks later I returned. The referee’s room had two new showers, complimentary toiletries and a flat-screen TV.

Mr Charming: Jose shakes the hand of Graham Poll

But at the end of his second season, I was also in charge when Chelsea were beaten 2-1 in an FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool at Old Trafford. He was less than charming in the tunnel afterwards. He stood there shaking his head at me and looking disappointed.

He made one comment: ‘I thought you were my friend’. You can make your own inference from that, but I chose to ignore it.

As for histrionics on the touchline, it has become almost comedic and is so predictable it doesn’t surprise or affect you as a referee.



Ferguson is different. He doesn’t bother with the charm. He isn’t unpleasant, he just leaves you alone. But when he talks about referees in the media you’d like to think it doesn’t affect you, but it can.

A current Premier League referee was travelling up to his first match at Old Trafford to take charge of United at home. He called me from the car and said: ‘I could do with a 2-0 home win and a quiet night’.

Incident: Mourinho rants and raves at referee Graham Poll, who said officials learn to ignore his outbursts



Fury: Mourinho

Of course, he didn’t go out of his way to make that happen, but it shows you the effect Ferguson has, just his persona and everything else.

It is easier to do a high-profile game in Europe than in a domestic league. You are not subject to all the build-up and, to an extent, you can be in a bubble avoiding all the hype. You fly in the day before, you do the game and you fly out the next morning.