Mourinho talks up winning habit and enjoys Chelsea’s title parade
JUBILANT Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho urged supporters who lined the streets of south west London for the club’s Premier League trophy parade yesterday to prepare for a repeat next summer.
Thousands of Blues fans turned out to see the champions take to three open-topped buses 24 hours after they beat Sunderland 3-1 in their final fixture of the season.
“Thank you for everything, for all your support,” said Mourinho, celebrating his third English top-flight title. “Book another place for the parade next season. I hope we can give you that.”
He added on Chelsea TV: “We have to be better if we want to be successful again. The other opponents are not going to accept this without a fight. Next year will be more difficult, but because it’s difficult is one of the reasons why I came back to England. I will enjoy it again.”
Midfielder John Obi Mikel used the occasion to implore goalkeeper long-serving Petr Cech to shun an anticipated transfer and stay at the club for a 12th campaign.
Mikel led a chorus of “Petr Cech, we want you to stay”, to which the Chelsea stopper, linked with Manchester United, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain, would only say: “We are all blue so we are all the same”.
Owner Roman Abramovich and the club’s successful youngsters, who won the FA Youth Cup and the European Youth League, joined the parade, which began at Stamford Bridge and took in Fulham Broadway and King’s Road.