If you’re anything like me, sitting down to watch the English Premier League on weekend mornings is staple in your routine. It’s ritualistic, regardless of how good or bad our clubs are.
Football (or soccer for the uncultured swine) has been ingrained in me for as long as I can remember. I’ve played basically since I could walk. I watched as many matches on TV growing up as I could and I’ve also been a Manchester United supporter for most, if not all, of my years on this planet. I still have vivid memories of the 1999 Champions League Final, which saw United go down a goal in the 6th minute to Bayern Munich, only to drag themselves back from the depths of defeat in stoppage time to draw level and eventually net the winner through Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the dying seconds of the match.
But since 2013, things have not been great at my beloved club. They went from winning trophies on a regular basis with perhaps the most successful manager to ever manage any club ever, to that manager retiring, to winning a grand total of 4* pieces of silverware since 2013. Things just haven’t been right since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure.
That is until 2016, when the club finally brought in Jose Mourinho to right the ship. He was supposed to be the Flex Seal that kept the damn thing afloat. After all, the self-anointed Special One has won a shitload of trophies over his years as a manager, even if he is a feckless dickhead who runs clubs into the ground by his 3rd year in charge.
That’s where this story picks up. See, Jose Mourinho has had a lot of free time on his hands since being sacked by the club on December 18th, 2018, after which saw the club bring in the hero of that 1999 Champions League Final in Ole Gunnar Solskaer. They call this “bringing it full circle.”
With all that free time, the enigma took a trip to Balashikha, Russia to drop the ceremonial first puck between Avangard Omsk and SKA St. Petersburg. On SKA, you’ll recognize names like Viktor Tikhonov, Nail Yakupov, Pavel Datsyuk, and Sergei Plotnikov (yes, that one). On Avangard, you’ll see names like David Desharnais, Alexei Emelin, Cody Franson, Viktor Stalberg, Kris Versteeg, and Max Talbot (yes, that one), in case you were ever wondering what these guys are up to anymore or wanted to know why this is being posted on a Penguins blog.
José Mourinho is in Balashikha, Russia. For real. pic.twitter.com/Y8ozLOEpdT
— KHL (@khl_eng) February 4, 2019
And things….well, things did not go as planned for The Special One.
Jose Mourinho's ceremonial puck drop at a KHL game did NOT go according to plan. 😂 ☠️
(🎥: @khl_eng) pic.twitter.com/MNkA9mMevd
— theScore (@theScore) February 4, 2019
Jose Mourinho was a special guest at the SKA – Avangard game. Something went really wrong at the opening face-off. Pavel Datsyuk saved The Special One pic.twitter.com/I6SBRpobxi
— Igor Eronko (@IgorEronko) February 4, 2019
Maybe Jose would’ve been better off having never moved out of the Manchester hotel he was living in or trying to run one of the best midfielders on the planet out of the club.
Really couldn’t have happened to a better person. They call this karma.
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