Glen Johnson was only 20 when Chelsea appointed Jose Mourinho in June 2004. In three seasons, the defender made 39 appearances under the Special One. Here he tells Sportsmail what Spurs’ youngsters can expect.
When Jose Mourinho first came to Chelsea, obviously back then nobody knew a great deal about him.
The first squad meeting was a bit of a whirlwind but I’d never really heard a manager speak to players like that before — it was just his confidence and the way he wanted to take the club forward.
Back then, I think he felt he needed to let people know how good he was. Now he’s proved himself. He’s very passionate: a born winner and he gives players the energy boost they need.
Usually when a new manager comes in, players do respond quickly. The fact is, Mourinho will get a reaction even quicker and for longer. So I expect an immediate turnaround at Spurs. Training was very organised, too. And intense.
With other managers it could be quite off-the-cuff but this was very structured. You’d walk off one pitch, straight on to another that was already prepared. No one had seen it done that way before.
I didn’t play a great deal under him. Mourinho has never been at a club long enough to bring through the youth. He normally walks through the door, signs who he wants, has an instant impact and moves on, which is obviously fantastic for him and he’s done very well doing that.
If I was a young Spurs player, and Mourinho was only going to be there for two years, I would be nervous. If he’s going to be there for six years, I would be excited. In the last 15 years he’s only been at two clubs for longer than two and a half years. But records are there to be broken. Hopefully he stays around at Tottenham long enough so he can use the youth and help grow the club, as well as the business.