Be careful what you wish for, Chelsea fans: Jose Mourinho's return would only lead to more carnage

When Mourinho first joined Chelsea in 2004, not only did he find a spiritual home but also a physical one in that affluent corner of west London. That has remained his family base ever since he moved to England from Portugal, with his wife and children - who currently reside in a £25 million ($32m) mansion in Belgravia - staying in the UK despite him having spells with Inter, Real Madrid and Roma.

It has been reported that Mourinho would leap at the opportunity to take the reins at the club he calls "my Chelsea" for the third time in his storied career, perhaps in the belief that returning 'home' could stir something up deep down inside him that could help him to restore his diminishing reputation.

If this reunion would be viewed as a banker for a downtrodden Mourinho, what about Chelsea's beleaguered ownership? Given they will be accustomed to monitoring the markets, Boehly-Clearlake will be unnerved by just how far their stock has fallen since their protracted takeover two years ago, and they will be desperately searching for a win with their next strategic move, with many supporters convinced they are only capable of running the club into the ground.

Todd Boehly and Co have shown in the past that they are not above a brazen PR stunt; club legend Frank Lampard was egregiously reappointed as caretaker manager following Potter's dismissal in April 2023, shortly after having been axed himself by relegation-battling Everton. Almost inevitably, he oversaw a miserable end to the campaign, with Chelsea's dismal form and loss of confidence contributing in no small part to Pochettino's problems in 2023-24.

There's a sense of deja vu as, like Potter, the Argentine fights a losing battle to get the fans onside. Having seen his appointment go awry, reappointing Mourinho would be another short-term fix for Boehly and co-owner Behdad Eghbali - one that would see their stock spike among the vast majority of supporters. How long that upward trend would last, though, remains to be seen.

The relationship between Mourinho and Boehly-Clearlake is one you could imagine working, especially for the wily Portuguese. He famously likes to get his own way and has been glad to speak out against his own bosses if his wishes are not granted.

It has been widely reported that Boehly is intrigued by the idea of bringing Mourinho back to Chelsea, presumably enchanted by the idea of hiring one of the most famed personalities in the history of the game.

Given their mind-bending spend to date, the ownership would surely open their wallets and pander to Mourinho's every wish in the transfer window - a dream scenario for him at previous clubs where he felt his demands fell on deaf ears.

If he were to be given such influence at the highest level, there is little surprise the legendary coach is open to a return to Stamford Bridge.

Ever since Potter's ill-fated appointment in 2022, a toxic atmosphere has engulfed Chelsea - only intensifying under former Tottenham manager Pochettino, who has only been capable of incremental improvement thus far.

Though the vast majority of the blame undoubtedly lies with the club's decision-makers, something needs to change - evidenced by those chants of "f*ck off Mauricio" - and it feels increasingly likely that Pochettino will pay with his job at the end of the season.

Whatever happens thereafter, alleviating the malaise around the club has to be one of the hierarchy's highest priorities; reappointing Mourinho would do that, albeit it may just be for the short-term, based on his recent track record. The Portuguese has a unique aptitude for fostering a togetherness, built upon an 'us-against-them' siege mentality, and none of his former clubs have benefited from that quite like Chelsea.

It may not always seem positive from the outside, but there is no doubt Mourinho has the ability to unify the fans, the players and those in the boardroom and have everyone pulling in the same direction once again.

Regardless of how far he has fallen, Mourinho, Chelsea and the club's fanbase are inexorably linked; after all, secondary only to Roman Abramovich, he is the 'Special One' who changed everything - defining the Blues' modern era and bringing unprecedented, unparalleled, previously impossible success.

Not only would he be welcomed back at Stamford Bridge with open arms, but they would probably roll out the red carpet just for him.

However, Mourinho's return might provide a temporary solution to Chelsea's problems off the pitch, but there is no guarantee that he will deliver success on it. The 61-year-old's career has followed an infamously downward trajectory since he was relieved of his duties by Abramovich for a second time in 2015, with his spells at United, Spurs and Roma reflecting that he has lost the Midas touch as trophies became increasingly hard to come by. Indeed, his last league title came with Chelsea almost nine years ago.

He would argue that the structures were not in place for him to provide success at United (where form, playing style and an aversion to using young players were his downfall) or Tottenham (where perceived defensive tactics and his public criticism of his players were the problem), and he deserves credit for some of his work at Roma, where he won the inaugural Conference League and reached a Europa League final despite working on a relatively shoestring budget.

However, for the first time in his career his win percentage slipped below 50 percent in the Italian capital, and he never truly came close to cracking the top four in his two-and-a-half seasons in Serie A. In terms of the football on show, former Giallorossi player and noted Mourinho detractor Antonio Cassano said last year: "He has made Roma play in an unworthy, disgusting way. It's all smoke and mirrors with him. I don't care about the results he has achieved."

Chelsea's decision-makers must ask themselves what they actually want from this next appointment, and balance that against what the club actually needs at the darkest point in its modern history.

The fans will be appeased in the short-term and the malaise will be alleviated for the time being, but Mourinho is moving further and further away from the great coach and personality he once was - and with him at the helm the toxicity that currently plagues the Blues is liable to return sooner or later.

Even when results were positive, his time at Roma was characterised by petulant outbursts, berating officials, touchline bans, clashes with his own players and incessant moaning. Once you remove a winning team from that equation, the scenario was just as toxic as the one Chelsea currently find themselves in, if not more.

Indeed, answering the question of what Chelsea need from their next manager is where the logic of reappointing Mourinho for a third time falls down; Chelsea are mired in seemingly never-ending transition, but he has a reputation for being unable to oversee progress over more than two years; he is notorious for his poor handling of young players and academy graduates, yet Chelsea's squad is packed full of them.

It is plausible that returning 'home' to west London might reinvigorate him, and he would certainly be backed financially by a reckless ownership group and emotionally by a demanding fanbase, but even then it is difficult to see a path to success.

That said, mediocrity under Mourinho would be far more palatable for their following than mid-table obscurity under Tottenham favourite Pochettino. But the Portuguese's dismissal in 2015 demonstrated that the fickle fanbase will only have so much patience, even for the most successful manager in the club's history.

Unless Chelsea fans can learn to tolerate long-term mediocrity and the mid-table reality Pochettino has spoken about, Mourinho's third coming is likely to end the same way as the previous two.