Barcelona officials initially wanted someone with connections at the club to be Sir Bobby’s assistant, but he insisted it had to be Mourinho.
For good reason.
Sir Bobby was entering a club divided following the departure of legendary coach Johan Cruyff and needed someone he trusted implicitly, who could help him convey his message in another foreign language.
By now, Mourinho’s role had long since evolved.
He helped out at training camp. He wrote scouting dossiers on the opposition which Sir Bobby called the best he had ever seen. The most important thing is that he was used to dealing with international players.
In a testing environment, the couple complemented each other again, as midfielder Guillermo Amor explained.
“They managed to create a good atmosphere and form a very strong team,” he said.
“José had more contact with the players because of his fluency in the language and his age, which was very similar to ours.
“He had great respect for Bobby and Bobby had great faith in everything Jose could do on the field and in the locker room.”
Sir Bobby won the European Cup Winners’ Cup, Copa del Rey and Spanish Cup in what turned out to be his last season under Mourinho before the Barcelona boss was promoted to the role of general manager and replaced by Louis van Gaal.
Mourinho told Sir Bobby he wanted to leave out of loyalty, but his mentor convinced him to stay, having already informed Van Gaal of the merits of keeping his assistant.
Had Mourinho not spent three more years at the Camp Nou with van Gaal, the Portuguese might well have followed Sir Bobby to Newcastle in 1999.
Instead he went it alone, but Sir Bobby’s influence lives on.
To this day, Mourinho cherishes those moments the couple’s families shared in Sitges, the meals Sir Bobby never let him pay for, and the lessons it taught him about life.
That’s why the 62-year-old considers himself a “little magpie.”
“The club knows how much love and respect I have for them,” he told CBS earlier this month. “I learned that love from Mr. Robson.”
