AHEAD OF THE GAME: Why Jose Mourinho doesn’t want to be Tottenham’s ‘head coach’

Jose Mourinho wants to be Tottenham manager rather than head coach, the job title he was given following his appointment last year. 

The Portuguese was initially happy to accept the head coaching position, but feels it has led to him being marginalised in the club’s transfer dealings, a frustration exacerbated by his experiences during a difficult extended window.

The 57-year-old is also well aware that his predecessor Mauricio Pochettino’s title was manager during his final three years at the club and feels he deserves the same status. 

Jose Mourinho is seeking a similar progression to his predecessor Mauricio Pochettino

Mourinho has spent much of the summer pushing Tottenham to sign a new striker to provide support for Harry Kane and was frustrated that the club appeared to prioritise securing the return of Gareth Bale, a signing that was very much the project of chairman Daniel Levy. 

While Mourinho has no problem with Bale he has pointed out internally that his squad is already well stocked with talented wide players, including Lucas Moura, Son Heung-min, Erik Lamela and Steven Bergwijn, but has been short of alternative striking options. 

There is also an issue with Levy over the future of Dele Alli, who Mourinho wants to sell despite the club’s priority being to protect his transfer value. 

Pochettino was appointed as head coach in 2014 before being promoted to manager two years later and Mourinho is seeking a similar progression — and an increase in influence — at the club.

United remove offending signs 

Manchester United reacted promptly to this column’s story last Saturday about their car park signage by removing the offending notices at their Carrington training ground which branded some of their staff as ‘non-relevant’. 

The signs were put up to separate the allocation of parking spaces between players, coaches and other employees but led to complaints from some staff who were made to feel undervalued by the club. 

Manchester United made staff at Carrington training complex feel undervalued by the club

More live games are a turn off 

Sky Sports’ viewing figures for the first three rounds of Premier League matches are slightly down when measured on an average game basis, underlining their concerns that being given more games to broadcast live will not necessarily translate to bigger audiences. 

Sky and BT Sport fear more games on TV will undermine the value of their exclusive rights

Whereas Amazon Prime and the BBC have been delighted at being handed extra matches for free, main rights-holders Sky and BT Sport fear that having more games on TV will undermine the value of their exclusive rights and damage their offering to subscribers. 

Sky’s viewing figures for the 12 matches they originally picked for broadcast this season are up by eight per cent, however, compared to the equivalent fixtures last year, which indicates that while the demand for big games remains strong, the viewers’ appetite for additional matches is limited.

Spurs frustrated by fans ban 

Tottenham’s frustration at the continued ban on fans in stadiums has been compounded by the fact that the club are in the process of investing in new technology that could massively increase their match-day revenue. 

The club are in talks about developing an app which would enable fans to order half-time snacks in advance to reduce queueing at kiosks. 

Tottenham’s catering already generated almost £800,000 every match day. 

Criticism baffles PFA panel 

The PFA’s selection panel of Gary Neville, John Mousinho and Edward Canty have been surprised at critical comments from the union’s equalities team. 

The trio had asked them for advice on framing an inclusive brief when advertising for the four non-executive independent directors who will appoint Gordon Taylor’s replacement. 

There had been constructive dialogue between the panel and the equalities team and an agreement on the need to emphasise that the PFA are looking for diversity among their new directors before the equalities team wrote the explosive letter condemning the panel’s make-up to the PFA’s management committee, as revealed by Sportsmail earlier this week.