Graeme Souness has admitted that he misses seeing Jose Mourinho managing in the Premier League, while suggesting that Turkey has gained a great character following the Portuguese boss’ move to Fenerbahce last summer.
Mourinho, who has spent a decade in the Premier League managing Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham, joined Fenerbahce at the start of the 2024/25 season looking to help them recover from a heartbreaking campaign in which they finished second to rivals Galatasaray in the Super Lig despite accumulating 99 points.
But while Graeme Souness spent a season managing in Turkey with Galatsaray 30 years ago, the Scotsman is still a huge fan of Mourinho and offers him some important advice should his over-zealous nature get the better of him…
Graeme Souness would love to see Jose Mourinho back in the Premier League
“I appreciate this will sound pretty rich coming from me, but I’ve actually got some words of advice for Fenerbahce boss Jose Mourinho so he can navigate Turkish football’s choppy waters,” Souness told FourFourTwo. “If you are going to coach one of the big clubs in Istanbul, you have to lead from the front because of the unique pressures in a one-off city, and that’s exactly what Jose has done throughout his decorated career at Porto, Chelsea, Inter and more.
“He’s in the most magical of cities and the home of Turkey’s big three teams – Fenerbahce, Galatasaray and Besiktas – all commanding devotion and desperate for local bragging rights. There’s a very good chance Jose will bring Fenerbahce honours, but there’s one thing he needs to bear in mind if anyone ever hands him a flag in the Turkish Super Lig: make sure you’ve got your running shoes on, you know where the exits are, and then do your best Usain Bolt impression for your own safety.
“Rightly or wrongly, but completely understandably, it’s that flag incident which will come to people’s minds when they think back to my time in Turkey as Gala’s head coach. But despite all the brouhaha it caused, I don’t regret it one bit. I’ve never known whether to laugh or cry when it comes to Jose Mourinho’s antics, and that’s certainly the case now he’s plying his trade in Turkey, but I miss him. The Premier League’s loss is their gain, without a doubt.”
Souness admits that he is worried Mourinho will have a similar impact on Turkish football in the same way he did on the Premier League 20 years ago. That’s not happening at this moment in time, with Fenerbahce facing a fight to qualify for the Europa League knockout stages and are trailing rivals Galatasaray – who are currently unbeaten – in the Super Lig, but there’s still a chance he will turn things around sharply.
Regardless, it’s Mourinho’s character that has left Souness enamoured, with it perfectly suited for Turkish football.
“The way he took English football by storm with Chelsea, apart from when Rafael Benitez got the better of him in the Champions League, was galling for people of a Liverpool persuasion like me,” Souness highlights. “The fact he joined Manchester United had me worried for a while that he would get them back on their perch at Liverpool’s expense.
“These days, I’m more concerned about Jose’s prospects of helping Fenerbahce gain the upper hand due to my links with Galatasaray, because I know Jose is perfectly suited to football on either side of the Bosphorus. He’s a manager I’ve had the utmost respect for since he burst onto the scene with his knee slide at Old Trafford in 2004, when Porto knocked United out of the Champions League. The way he tried to recreate his famous celebration when Fenerbahce scored a 102nd-minute winner against Trabzonspor this season reminded me that he’s pure box office.
“It was inelegant theatre compared to his Old Trafford shenanigans, but it proved to me – and I know from first-hand experience – that Mourinho will appreciate Turkey, all of its passion and volatility, and even the aggression of the drivers in Istanbul.
“My year on Turkish football’s frontline will go down as one of the happiest of my career in management. I genuinely mean that. I’ll always keep an eye out for Gala results, and while I hope Jose enjoys Turkey as much as me, I hope he’s not too successful.”
