Jose Mourinho reveals the hilarious nickname he once had for his ‘friend’ Brendan Rodgers when he was a youth coach at his Chelsea side

• Jose Mourinho has revealed the funny nickname he had for Brendan Rodgers
• The Roma boss took Rodgers under his wing in the early stages of his career 
• ‘There’s no bigger waste of time!’ What is the point of the Club World Cup? It’s All Kicking Off 

Jose Mourinho has revealed the humorous nickname that was once given to Brendan Rodgers during his time working as a coach at Chelsea. 

The pair both arrived at the London outfit in 2004, with Mourinho reportedly coaxing the Northern Irishman to Stamford Bridge after he had been working as an assistant manager at Reading. 

The Celtic manager would be appointed as the head coach of Chelsea’s U18 side, with the Portuguese manager taking Rodgers under his wing. 

And Mourinho spoke of how he had tried to help Rodgers hone in on his managerial skills, bringing him in to work with the senior squad while he was in charge at the club. 

‘Brendan was a young guy that the structure brought Brendan to work in youth football,’ he told the Obi One podcast. ‘I always do to this day, try to help these guys.

Jose Mourinho has spoken on how he helped Brendan Rodgers improve as a manager during the early stages of his career 

Mourinho also opened up on the humorous nickname he once had for Brendan Rodgers

Rodgers would work with Mourinho during his time at Chelsea, before going on to manage Watford, Reading and Liverpool

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‘I bring them to sessions with me. When it’s a national team period, the majority of the players go away and I let him work with me on the pitch. So what I did with Brendan, I did with loads of other guys.’

Mourinho would go on to leave Chelsea in 2007 to manage Inter Milan, with Rodgers departing in 2008 to manage Watford before he would go on to work at Reading, Swansea and Liverpool. 

But ‘The Special One’ reflected on his relationship with Rodgers at Chelsea, claiming that the pair had always been friends before revealing that many around the club had given the Northern Irishman a funny nickname, which was a spin on his own. 

‘We’ve always had a great relationship,’ he said, speaking on Rodgers. ‘And we’ve played against each other even last season and we love each other, you know. In many fun moments we used to call Brendon “The Special Two”.

More recently, the Celtic manager has also spoken highly of Mourinho in the past calling him a ‘world-class’ coach amid criticism of the Roma boss during his time at Tottenham. 

‘He’s an outstanding manager and still has many years left. Up until now, he’s been hugely successful,’ Rodgers said. 

Rodgers would manage Liverpool between 2012 and 2015 and notably missed out on winning the Premier League title in the 2013-14 season, with Mourinho’s Chelsea side defeating the Reds 2-0 at Anfield at the very end of the season to stop Liverpool from winning the league. 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=DSmbrA9z6zI%3Frel%3D0

Mourinho also revealed why Chelsea were so determined to spoil Liverpool’s 2014 title dream

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard infamously slipped before Demba Ba scored Chelsea’s first

The Portuguese manager admitted that he ‘felt sorry’ for Rodgers after beating Liverpool in 2014

‘We went there like we were playing for the title and we tried to win it,’ he said on the match. 

‘Of course, I gave a bit of rest to one or two guys, I played young (Tomas) Kalas, who had a fantastic game against Luis Suarez. We were on the bus and the guys outside were selling shirts with “Liverpool Champions” on, and you can’t allow that as Chelsea. You have to keep the marketing and merchandise in a box. 

‘And Stevie G [Steven Gerrard] was the last person that deserves that to happen to them. But that is part of football. 

‘In reality we played so so well and we won. To be honest I also felt sorry for Brendan because I’m always supporting my friends but on matchday’s, friends they stay at home.’ 

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify

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