<
        >

          Jose Mourinho once said Tottenham job would never be for him... Yeah, about that...

          • Chris Wright, Toe Poke writerNov 20, 2019, 06:00 AM ET

          Jose Mourinho has taken the Tottenham Hotspur job, which he said he'd never do because "I love Chelsea supporters too much." Life moves pretty fast ...

          The Toe Poke Daily is here every day to bring you all the weirdest stories, quirkiest viral content and top trolling that the internet has to offer, all in one place.

          Jump to: Pitch-invading cat named 'best Mexican player on the field' | David Beckham and Ninja surprise fans in London

          Our sympathies are definitely with any Tottenham Hotspur fan who managed to get an early night on Tuesday only to wake up and find their entire world had changed on Wednesday morning.

          Spurs sacked Mauricio Pochettino on Tuesday evening before, less than 12 hours later, appointing Jose Mourinho, a man who famously once said he'd never even contemplate working for them.

          Speaking ahead of the 2015 Capital One Cup final between his Chelsea side and Pochettino's Spurs, Mourinho admitted that an exit clause forbade him from managing in England for two years and that even Spurs' attempts to pay compensation to the Blues fell short.

          "I couldn't go," Mourinho said, after confirming the approach from Spurs. "I couldn't train in England for two years."

          Asked if he would have considered Spurs, Mourinho added: "No, because I love Chelsea supporters too much."

          Mourinho will have to contend with a documentary film crew following his every move, as Spurs are the latest subjects of Amazon's "All Or Nothing" series. Just last year, the Portuguese stated rather vehemently that allowing behind-the-scenes access at a football club was not to his liking.

          "You can have a fantastic movie while respecting others," the then-Manchester United manager said in a dig at rivals Manchester City. "You don't need to be disrespectful to have a fantastic movie.

          "You can be a rich club and buy the best players in the world but you cannot buy class and they showed that clearly, that was really obvious."

          Mourinho added: "The second reaction is because I am in the movie I could ask for some royalties. But if they send me one of the shirts they had in the tunnel when we played there, the shirts that were saying 'we did it on derby day.' If they send me one of these shirts, I give up about the royalties."

          Still, Amazon seem happy about the appointment...

          But then again, so do Tottenham's bitter London rivals West Ham, who will play to host for his first match as Spurs boss on Saturday.

          Thankfully, it would appear that enough water has passed under those particular bridges since then for a full 180-degree turn that might bring "ENERGY" back to the club.

          It's perhaps also worth noting that Mourinho's famous "park the bus" analogy -- a phrase synonymous with ultra-defensive tactics -- was originally provoked by a particularly stagnant goalless draw against Spurs in 2004.

          "As we say in Portugal, they brought the bus and they left the bus in front of the goal," he said after that game. "I'm really frustrated because there was only one team looking to win, they only came not to concede -- it's not fair for the football we played."

          Anyway, it took mere hours for Spurs to dismiss Pochettino and hire Mourinho as part of their near instantaneous changing of the guard.

          With the bewildering news still being digested, messages of love and gratitude for Poch from his former players started to appear.

          Dele Alli was first to salute the departing Argentine.

          Striker Harry Kane was also quick to offer his heartfelt thanks to Poch.

          Former Spurs forward Gary Lineker was also taken aback by the sudden nature of Poch's exit.

          Several well-known Spurs fans did their best to process the information, including a punchy one-word summary of the situation from NBA legend Steve Nash.

          Rapper AJ Tracey, who featured in Spurs' latest kit launch, was rendered similarly aghast.

          David Lammy, Member of Parliament for Tottenham, voiced his concerns over the club's ability to accommodate their new manager's famous self-reverence.

          Even famously restrained Arsenal fan Piers Morgan popped up to have his say on the situation unfolding across north London, which drew a spiky reply from One Direction star Niall Horan.

          There were emotional scenes over in Cardiff, where Spurs left-back Ben Davies was alerted to Pochettino's sacking immediately after playing for Wales.

          Of course, it wasn't long before the jokes began about Mourinho's potential list of preferred January transfer targets -- Marouane Fellaini or Nemanja Matic, anyone?

          Still, it was nice to see some out there in the Twittersphere find a positive spin on the appointment...

          While you could hardly accuse Spurs of going like-for-like, it's perhaps interesting to note that their new manager's recent points-per-game record is almost identical to that of their departing manager's.

          As always with Mou, we must simply grab the popcorn, get comfortable and watch on transfixed as we witness this latest blockbuster appointment unfold.

          Alex Pattle contributed to this report

          Pitch-invading cat named 'best Mexican player on the field'

          Play was brought to an adorable halt during the final few minutes of Mexico's CONCACAF Nations League win over Bermuda on Tuesday when a cat invaded the pitch.

          The match was poised at 1-1 at the time of the stoppage, and even though Carlos Antuna went on to snatch a 93rd-minute winner for El Tri, it didn't stop Mexican broadcasters Azteca Deportes naming the feline interloper as their "Player of the Match."

          "The best Mexican player on the field," the commentator could be heard quipping as the cat trotted around near the touchline.

          Quite what that says about the level of performance from the rest of the home side is open to interpretation.

          David Beckham and Ninja surprise fans in London

          David Beckham surprised members of the public at a new flagship Adidas store in London.

          The former Manchester United and LA Galaxy star made a guest appearance at the Oxford Street store, popping out from behind the scenes to surprise shoppers as they tested out the new adidas "Bring it to Me" app.

          The app uses geolocation to help customers browse the apparel, request their desired size and purchase items on the spot on their device without queueing at the check-out.

          Beckham was also joined at the launch event by professional gamer and social media star Ninja.

          The esports superstar described his joy at meeting "an absolute legend and super kind person." Which is fair enough.

          Beckham said: "It was great to come to the new adidas LDN store today to surprise some shoppers.

          "The scale of the store, and the interactivity for customers, really is impressive. It feels like the future."

          Considering he's in the midst of getting his new Major League Soccer franchise off the ground, it's amazing Becks finds the time for such shenanigans.