Trophies or entertainment? Jose Mourinho conundrum facing Newcastle as Chris Waddle explains winning versus ‘boring’ balancing act

That is rarely the case when it comes to antics on the touchline and in press conferences, with Mourinho one of the most enigmatic coaches to have ever graced the dugout. He has become famed for his man-management skills and ability to forge an “us against the world” mentality inside any club that employs him.

The 63-year-old Portuguese - with multiple Premier League and Champions League titles to his name - considers winning to be the only thing that matters. He is not overly concerned about how that line is crossed, with success - in a results-based business - judged on points and prizes.

Newcastle captured their first domestic trophy in 70 years when hoisting the Carabao Cup aloft in 2025, while two of the last three seasons have been spent rubbing shoulders with the cream of the European crop.

A tumble into the bottom half of the Premier League table has been endured this season, leading to pressure being lumped onto the shoulders of long-serving head coach Howe, and there has been talk of former Chelsea, Manchester and Tottenham manager Mourinho returning to England at St James’ Park.

Quizzed on whether a familiar face to those on Tyneside would represent too much of a risk for the Magpies, given his brand of football, ex-Newcastle star Waddle - speaking on behalf of Genting Casino, a premium online casino with a Football Slot Game - told GOAL: “I'm not going to say Mourinho is a bad manager, he's won nearly everything in the game.

“He's in Benfica at the minute. Let's be honest, they're going to be up there because there's always three teams in Portugal. There's talk of him going to Real Madrid as well.

“I just think that if you're winning, people will put up with it. But with Newcastle, you've got to win by entertaining. And let's be perfectly honest, Jose Mourinho over the years has not been an entertaining manager.

“It's about results, that's what the job's about. If he's top four in the league and he's still in the cups, they'll put up with it. They'll say he's great. If he's not, then they'll turn on the football style - not happy, don't like it, it's boring, he's going to get all that.

“Tottenham tried it with him. Tottenham brought him in. We know he's a great manager, but he wasn't Tottenham style and Tottenham didn't like it. Tottenham got rid.

“If you say to Jose Mourinho, ‘do you entertain?’ He’ll say, ‘no, I win trophies’. Do you want to win trophies or do you want to entertain? Unfortunately, there's a lot of clubs like Tottenham, Newcastle, who want both.

“I'm not just talking about Jose Mourinho, he's a fantastic manager, I'm not having a pop at him, I think he's a great manager, what he achieves is phenomenal, but certain clubs want to be attracted to a certain style of football, and that is not Jose Mourinho's thing.”

Waddle went on to say of the surprising exit talk surrounding Howe, who has been in charge of Newcastle since November 2021: “I think that if you win trophies, people put up with anything. If you're not winning trophies, it can't be any worse.

“I like Eddie Howe. I played there in the 80s, we played attacking football, front foot with Arthur Cox. We got promotion with Kevin Keegan playing on the front foot and they loved it - as Kevin Keegan said! Kevin Keegan, when he came back, wanted to play the same way because he knew what the fans wanted.

“There have been a lot of managers since then who the fans didn't take to because of their style of play. Eddie Howe plays the Newcastle way. If there is a Newcastle way. I like Eddie Howe.

“Won the League Cup a couple of years ago. They've had a bad run. The Champions League did take its toll on Newcastle's squad. It's proved that two or three years ago when they got in the Champions League - the league form always falters.

“Eddie Howe needs backing, he needs new players. There's a lot of old players there. There's some players who don't want to be there by the looks of it. Eddie needs to clear the decks and get five or six new players in. Whether he can or not, I don't know. But he needs at least five or six new players to freshen up that Geordie team.”

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