IT is obvious that Tottenham had been in talks with José Mourinho for some time, prior to his appointment within 12 hours of the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino.

Given that he has taken on a job with a salary of £15m I’m sure it didn’t take him too long to agree.

When I saw that figure in my national newspaper I had to do a double-take to make sure I hadn’t misread it!

Apparently that’s twice as much as poor Mr Pochettino, who was only on £8.5m.

It took me back to a football lunch celebrating Sir Alex Ferguson’s career.

I was on a table with a lot of ex-managers and we enjoyed talking about the occasions our teams played each other.

At one stage Sir Alex came over and said ‘you oldies should get another job and get the sack after six months’!

We laughed because we knew what he meant.

The salaries in our day were not much more than the man in the street.

They certainly weren’t so much that you didn’t have to get another job when your career was over.

I suppose it’s right that managers are getting such massive amounts because the players do.

You can watch live Premier League matches in most countries now, that’s how popular our league is and why we have so many players and coaches coming in from overseas.

Mr Mourinho’s track record means he is in a position, with the help of his agent, to command the sort of salary he is getting.

Having said that, his last appearance finished with his sacking at Manchester United which would have really hurt him.

He is not everyone’s favourite as the success he has had has made him appear rather boastful.

José himself acknowledged that in his first interview after coming to Spurs.

He has had time out to look back and realise what made him so unpopular at times and has said he has learned from it.

But of course it will all depend on what happens on the field, mainly with what happens from Monday-Friday, in the dressing room and on the training ground.

IT would be advisable for José Fonte to have a go at managing himself before criticising others.

During a recent interview with Talksport’s quiet, shy, retiring Jim White Jose laid into the club as it is at present saying he thought Ralph should be out the door.

Fonte’s exact quote was: “He doesn’t look like he’s capable of turning things round. I’m not sure if he can do the job to be honest.”

Let’s hope Jose has a go at managing one day and realises it’s not as easy a game as the one he played.

Both Ralph and Arsenal manager Unai Emery are under some pressure ahead of Saints’ game at the Emirates today. Let’s hope we get a result.

A draw would be a good one for us while Arsenal of course need the win.

I well remember how important it was to have characters around like Alan Ball, bless him, Kevin Keegan, Mick Channon and other senior internationals, who not only gave 100 per cent when they played but made sure that the younger players were aware of what they had to give.

At present Ralph, with due respect, has not got that sort of leadership on the pitch. I well remember some of our seniors going around during the game and revving up the younger players.

It was not always a telling off, sometimes it was a word of encouragement, but their passion helped the younger players become better and it let the supporters know they were giving 100 per cent.

LAST week I mentioned the good work that Test Valley Councillor Alan Dowden and his wife Celia do with the planting of 4,000 daffodils every year.

The rotary club also brought along 3,000 crocus corms, a worldwide initiative by the organization to help children who have not been vaccinated against polio. In Pakistan, for instance, after a child is vaccinated a purple dye is placed on their finger because it enables people to know who has been vaccinated.

Only two countries around the world do not vaccinate against this dreaded disease so well done to the Rotary Club.

Good luck and thank you to Daily Echo sports writer Adam Leitch, who as you probably already know is leaving after 20 years at the paper, following Saints game against Arsenal this weekend.

For over a decade now he has been the writer I would ring each week to give my thoughts for him to put into my weekly column. We got on very well and I was always interested to hear about the triathlons he and his partner would compete in around the world. It is a passion that he is leaving to write about. Thankyou Adam for all the help over the years and good luck. But don’t bother ringing me to see if I’d like to join you in a race!