Mourinho is OK with technical area roving

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho of Chelsea talks to the media during a press conference at Stamford Bridge on March 7, 2014 in London, England. Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho thinks it would be wrong to banish managers to the dugout following Newcastle manager Alan Pardew’s technical area headbutt on Hull midfielder David Meyler.

Pardew has requested a personal hearing, expected to take place next week, after admitting to a Football Association misconduct charge after last week’s incident, which prompted calls for technical areas to be scrapped.

Mourinho is no stranger to technical area incidents and once poked Barcelona assistant coach Tito Vilanova in the eye while manager of Real Madrid.

Mourinho, whose side host Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday, said: “I spoke with Alan a couple of hours after the incident and he knows he made a mistake and he knows he has to pay for the mistake with some punishment.

“The biggest punishment is you to recognise yourself that you made a mistake.”

Mourinho does not believe the use of technical areas should be reviewed.

“I don’t think it’s needed and I never had a problem to share a short space with other managers,” he said. “I think the manager should have that freedom to come out and to speak with the players and to walk in the technical area. I think the problem is the human nature and the human nature is open to mistakes.

“I made mistakes in technical areas, too. I paid for the mistake, I was suspended for the mistake, and every one of us can make mistakes.”

Mourinho is sure to be roving the technical area today, where a win would take Chelsea seven points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Arsenal and Manchester City are in FA Cup action this weekend, and second-placed Liverpool play Manchester United on March 16.

Mourinho does not consider the table to be accurate, as City will have three games in hand come this evening. “When some teams have more matches than other teams, the situation is not real. I don’t look to the table. I just look to the game,” he said.

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