There’s not many at Tottenham Hotspur who will remember Jose Mourinho’s spell with fondness. But Troy Parrott certainly does.
That’s if his latest comments to Voetbal International are anything to go by. He has nothing but positive things to say about Mourinho’s time at Tottenham.
Sport Witness have already covered comments from the striker this week. He explained how he had come to choose Tottenham earlier in his career over the likes of Everton, Celtic and others.
Tottenham chance
Parrott joined Tottenham’s academy from Irish club Belvedere in 2017 at the age of 15. At the time he was likened to the likes of Robbie Keane and Harry Kane.
Instead, he would struggle to establish himself in the first team, going on to make just four senior appearances for Spurs across all competition before leaving permanently.
There was one manager who showed faith in him, though. That was Jose Mourinho.
He handed the youngster his Premier League debut in December 2019 during a 5-0 win over Burnley. He then handed him three further appearances of his total of four.
Mourinho backing
That means the Portuguese boss was a big part of the 24-year-old’s career. That’s something he’s happy to acknowledge.
“It was very special to work with one of the best trainers in the world,” he said.
“Mourinho spoke to me a lot, which made me feel a hundred times better. A manager with his status could easily focus only on the basic players. But he’s not like that.
“Mourinho also took time for young reserves. I noticed that he wanted to help me in my development. I look back on that with a very good feeling.”
Of course, Tottenham fans are unlikely to share the positive feeling about Mourinho’s time at their club.
They view it as very much a failed experiment that ended the club’s progressive era under Mauricio Pochettino without delivering the silverware it was designed to bring.