Why Bradford boss rejected Mourinho’s early handshake

BRADFORD manager, Phil Parkinson, snubbed Jose Mourinho’s early handshake to avoid tempting fate. Chelsea boss Mourinho walked over to Parkinson to congratulate him on his side’s stunning 4-2 victory over the Premier League leaders in the FA Cup on Saturday. But when he walked over, there was still three-and-a-half minutes left on the clock and despite being two goals ahead, Parkinson was not yet counting his chickens. 

  He revealed that he did not want to exchange the pleasantries until Bradford’s name was safely into the fifth round. Parkinson said: “He [Mourinho] came over to shake hands but at that point there was still three-and-a-half minutes left and I wasn’t getting drawn into that. 

  “You know that if Chelsea got one [goal] back even at that late stage, and with their world class players on the pitch, they could easily have got a second [goal] so we wanted to concentrate on what we had to do and see the game through.”

  Mourinho did return to congratulate the Bradford team and staff, including Parkinson, in the changing rooms after the game. Parkinson says that it was a “touch of class” for the Portuguese boss to be so humble after the most shocking defeat of his illustrious career. 

  He said: “He came in the dressing room afterwards [though] and shook everyone’s hands – crediting the lads for their performances, which I thought was a real touch of class.” 

  Mourinho saw his side toss away a 2-0 lead after Gary Cahill and Ramires had put his Premier League leaders in control of the tie. A goal from Jon Stead just before the break and second-half strikes by Filipe Morais, Andy Halliday and Mark Yeates sent Bradford marching into the fifth round.   

  After the game, Mourinho admitted that he was “ashamed and embarrassed” by the result.