6 Managers You Didn't Know Were Almost Newcastle Boss

2. Jose Mourinho

A preposterous, unimaginable concept now but at the turn of the millennium the 'Special One' was being groomed for a future in black and white. Between 1992 and 1997 Mourinho was Sir Bobby's protege at Sporting Lisbon, Porto and Barcelona and later coming to prominence as a manager in his own right in his native Portugal with Porto before achieving astronomical success at Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid. However, his path could have taken a very different turn had he chose to follow his mentor to Newcastle. Robson had proposed Mourinho resume their partnership and become his number two at St James' in 2000 with a view to taking over from the former England boss a few years later. "Since Bobby suspected I wouldn't accept it, he told me it would only be for a year, two tops, and that at the end of that time I would be head coach and he club manager," he revealed in his biography. "But he had forgotten that I had worked with him for many years and so I knew him well. Mourinho did refuse the offer and was appointed at Benfica a few months later going on to become one of, if not the best, manager in the world. And once again we're left to contemplate of what might have been.