In Chelsea’s FA Cup 3rd round 3-0 win over Watford at Stamford Bridge yesterday, another incident occurred to further frustrate the Blues’ manager after he has already been on the warpath with the recent officials in Chelsea’s games over the Christmas period. The difference this time is that after reviewing the incident and discussing it with Kevin Friend (the game’s referee), Mourinho actually apologised to the referee in question and indeed went on to compliment him for doing a good job.

The incident in question happened when there was a sure handball by the Watford defence in the penalty area and Kevin Friend was about to award a penalty but as the ball went straight into Loic Remy’s path and he controlled it well (offering a clear advantage to Chelsea) he waved play on but if the advantage had not occurred then Friend would have awarded a penalty to the Blues.

Jose honestly and forthrightly apologised to Friend for his earlier comments during interviews with some TV stations and went on to compliment the referee for exhibiting excellent refereeing skills. Listen to the manager’s comments for yourself in the interview clip below from our colleagues at Audioboom courtesy of Sky Sports.