Back at Chelsea, Mourinho is now the 'Happy One'

Jose Mourinho returned to Chelsea on Monday and the smiling 'Special One' said he is now the 'Happy One' on his second coming as manager of the Premier League club he has always loved.

With some 250 reporters from home and abroad and dozens of television crews crowding into a suite at Stamford Bridge, there was never any doubt about the Portuguese retaining his media pulling power of old.

"If I have to choose a nickname for this period, I would choose 'the Happy One'," he declared. "I am very happy.

"Time flies. It looks like it was a couple of days but it was nine years ago when I first became manager," he said after entering the room to a barrage of camera flashes.

"I have the same nature, I am the same person," the title-winning former Real Madrid and Inter Milan manager assured reporters, adding that he had the same heart and emotions.

"I would describe myself as a very happy person. It is the first time I arrive in a club where I already love the club. Before I had to build an emotional relationship and I only came to love the club a little later."

Mourinho won the 2005 and 2006 Premier League titles in his first spell with the west London club but departed in 2007.

It was widely reported that he had suffered a breakdown in his relationship with billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, a claim the Portuguese was keen to play down.

"I read and I kept listening I was fired, I was sacked, we had a complete break of relationships," he said. "That was not true. Many people didn't believe in that, but it was mutual agreement.

"At the time we thought it was best for both of us, me and the club. It was a sad moment. Of course it was a sad moment, but I don't regret that decision."

TWO TITLES

Since leaving Chelsea, Mourinho spent two years at Inter Milan where he won two Serie A titles, the domestic cup and the Champions League before moving to Real Madrid where he won a La Liga title and a King's Cup.

The Portuguese has never spent more than three years managing at a single club, but he hopes to at least to see out his four-year deal with Chelsea.

"Yes, and now I'm prepared for that," he said when asked if he wanted more stability in his career. "Before I wasn't. I had always this kind of mentality...

"I have a contract for four years. I hope to go the last day of that contract. If the club then wants me to stay, I'll be more than happy."

Mourinho inherits a side which again qualified for the Champions League, after finishing third in the Premier League last season.

They also won the Europa League but are in need of some restructuring if they are to overhaul northern giants Manchester United and City.

After a difficult final season at Real Madrid, where Mourinho failed to win a major trophy, he will at least enjoy the support of fans who adored him when he was first at the club.

He expects the pressure to be to greater, however, second time around.

"I didn't choose for my career a comfortable position because I'm returning to a house where I was happy and successful and where the fans love me," he said.

"No. I'm coming with exactly the opposite perspective. I have more responsibility because of that. The expectations are higher because people know what I can deliver."

Image: Jose Mourinho poses for photographers during a news conference at Stamford Bridge stadium in London on Monday.

Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters