You always knew there was going to be a next chapter; you just didn't expect it was going to come two weeks and one day after being relieved of duty at Tottenham Hotspur. And, obviously, you wouldn't have expected Roma. Not this Roma.

The sheer speed of Jose Mourinho's appointment at Roma leaves you reeling, especially when you consider it took them three and a half months -- from the moment the new owner, American entrepreneur Dan Friedkin, took over -- to fill the vacant position of general manager. After a long and painstaking search with the help of a data intelligence company, Retexo, they ended up with Tiago Pinto, who joined from Benfica.

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Was this manager search quite as exhaustive? Or was it an impulse move, one guided by gut sentiment, love at first sight?

"As soon as Jose told us he was available, we immediately seized the opportunity to speak to one of the greatest coaches of all time," said Pinto. "We were impressed by his desire to win and his passions for the game of football. He doesn't care about the trophies he has won in the past; he only thinks about the next trophy he's going to win."

There's a lot to unpack here. It would be churlish to point out that few managers in the game remind you of their achievements as often as Mourinho does: witness the famous "respect" incident, when he said "I won more Premierships alone than the other 19 managers together." But the fact that Mourinho would throw himself back into the fray so quickly speaks volumes as well.

Given the way things ended for him at his three previous clubs -- Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea the second time around -- when he didn't just part ways, but left under a cloud with the smell of burnt bridges in his wake, it was perhaps evident that he wouldn't get another shot in the Premier League, at least not at a club on the left-hand side of the table. But still, you imagined, there were other options. He is still one of the most successful managers in the history of the game, a guy with two Champions League trophies at home, a cosmopolitan figure who had delivered league titles in Portugal, Italy, Spain and England (eight in total), a man whose connections to the game at every level run wide and run deep.

You imagined him taking some time off, letting the post-Spurs negativity wash away from the echo chamber of the English media, and then perhaps working his magic to seduce another club into giving him a go. And make no mistake about it: after some rest and regeneration, Mourinho scrubs up real well.

He's comfortable talking to the sort of wealthy and powerful men who own clubs. He can be personable, charming, articulate and affectionate with the best of them. And, incidentally, that schtick doesn't just work with nostalgic Russian oligarchs like Chelsea's Roman Abramovich (the second time) or bottom-line owners like the Glazers at Manchester United. It also worked with a dyed-in-the-wool hardcore football executive like Daniel Levy, who took him to Tottenham after the United debacle. (Evidently it also worked with Friedkin and his son Ryan: Texans with a background in car dealerships, hotels and entertainment.)This is some text inside of a div block.