Total respect for Mourinho

Source: bbc.co.uk
Colin Calderwood: Total respect for Mourinho
By Andy Tilley, PA Sport

Nottingham Forest manager Colin Calderwood is hoping some of the 'Special One's' sheen rubs off when the Reds do battle with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The sides meet in an FA Cup fourth-round clash on Sunday with Forest currently lying third in the Coca-Cola League One table, separated by Jose Mourinho's Barclays Premiership aristocrats by 44 places on the league ladder. Calderwood knows the odds are against his City Ground outfit embarrassing their top-flight opponents. But, only three years into his managerial career, he has his fingers crossed he can pick up some tricks of the trade from opposite number Mourinho, who declared himself to be the "special one" when he joined the London club from Porto in June 2004. "My coaching staff and I - as well as the players - will take a lot of things out of this weekend's experience."Colin CalderwoodAnd Calderwood, who arrived on the banks of the River Trent after cutting his teeth at Northampton, said: "I have never met Jose Mourinho and I do not think you should style yourself on anyone else, but my coaching staff and I - as well as the players - will take a lot of things out of this weekend's experience.

"It will be a wonderful occasion for my coaching staff and I hope it will make us better professionals. "Just to try and understand Jose Mourinho and Chelsea's mentality and to pick up bits and pieces down there will be very valuable. "Jose Mourinho has his own style, but what he has done is back up what he has said with fantastic success. "You have obviously got to have total respect for the man." Calderwood's approach is to preach calmness and confidence heading into the game, which he believes his side have a chance of winning regardless of the pronouncements of pundits and the form book. He said: "We cannot allow the nervous energy surrounding the game fatigue us because we need to make sure we are still in the game with 30 minutes gone. "We must stay switched on, because there will be times in the game when we will be forced to defend, but I strongly believe we have got the players and we've got the way of playing that could fashion a chance at Chelsea. "Or maybe we will get that element of luck you sometimes need to score a goal. "The underdogs have always got a chance in the FA Cup and hopefully we can score a goal at a point in the game when it will have a real effect on the result." Meanwhile, Calderwood is also hoping to renew acquaintances with former Forest loanee John Terry, although the injury jinx the pair share is likely to keep the Chelsea and England captain on the sidelines. Terry, who has yet to fully recover from the back troubles which laid him low midway through December, made six appearances as a 19-year-old on loan at the Reds in 2000. Jose MourinhoThe young prospect lined up in the centre of the Forest defence alongside the experienced Calderwood who was, by then, approaching the twilight days of a 19-year professional playing career. "Losing John Terry has been a massive blow for Chelsea," said Calderwood. "I remember playing alongside him in what was my last game for Forest. "It was against Birmingham at St Andrews and we won 1-0, but I got injured in the game and went to Notts County after that. "Even at that time, John Terry was a very strong individual and he made a difference to the senior blokes in training because he was so committed and physical. "You could see he could go on to be outstanding and he reminded me very much of the young Sol Campbell at Tottenham. "Experience is an advantage in football of course but, if you are a young player who can play in high-profile games and games with a high level of physical contact then you have a very bright future in front of you and both those players have gone on to realise that."