When Hull City unveiled yet another foreign manager to Premier League shores on 5 January 2017, the initial response was one of suspicion: pundit Paul Merson opined that English managers were always overlooked for top jobs, while fellow sky pundit Phil Thompson was not so enthused either.
Along with all the mistrust and hostility, though, there was a hint of sympathy as well – here was yet another promising foreign manager flying to England with echoes of Mourinho while the previous one, Andre Villas-Boas, left with his reputation in tatters.
Yet, a basic look at his background serves to show that he deserves to be held in higher regard. Having experienced remarkable success at each of the three clubs he has managed till date, Silva deserves rich praise if only for putting his reputation on the line with such a risky undertaking.
Having already amassed a couple of trophies for himself in a relatively short career, the Hull City job represents a fight at an end of the table that Silva isn't particularly used to. While fellow relegation battlers Sunderland and Crystal Palace have opted for the safer route, Hull and Swansea have boldly appointed promising yet unproven young managers.
So, who is Marco Silva, and why is he being dubbed the 'mini-Mourinho' in certain quarters of the press back home in Portugal?
We present the profile of the man tasked with the unenviable task of keeping Hull City in the league.
Humble beginnings
Silva spent his entire playing career in Portugal, mostly alternating between the second and third divisions except for a couple of appearances in the Primeira Liga. In 2005, he joined Estoril in the second division and would go on to play for them till his retirement in 2011.
Immediately after his retirement, Silva was appointed the director of football at Estoril, in turn going on to become the manager within the span of a few months. In his first season, Silva led Estoril back to the top flight as champions and was chosen as the league's Manager of the Year.
This is where the stories of similarity with Mourinho begin.
The ‘Special One’ also first made his name at a modest top flight club in Uniao de Leiria, and both managers would eventually go on to punch above their weight in their first seasons in the top flight, consistently challenging the top five.
Silva would go on to lead his newly promoted team to fifth and fourth place finishes in his two seasons in the top flight, and in the process, historically would lead them to qualification for the UEFA Europa League.
The big jobs
Here we find Silva's next career symmetry with Mourinho – following impressive spells with lesser known clubs, both were cherry picked by the bigger names in the league. Mourinho headed to FC Porto in 2002, whereas Silva was appointed Sporting’s manager on 21 May 2014.
We all know what happened next with Mourinho – following stellar league success and Champions League success, Mourinho would go on to enjoy successful spells in England, Italy and Spain, forging his name as one of the best managers in world football.
However, let's come back, to Marcos Silva. In his solitary season with Sporting Lisbon, he led the club to third place in the Championship, and also clinched silverware by winning the domestic cup competition, Taca de Portugal.
Under strange circumstances, though, Silva was sacked days after winning the trophy, reportedly due to his decision to not wear the club's official suit for a match months earlier.
Silva then moved on to Greece with Olympiakos. Starting off the season with 17 straight domestic wins (a European record in the 21st century), he led Olympiakos to the title with six games to spare. English fans also heard his name for the first time in 2015, following a 3-2 victory against Arsenal in the UCL group stages.
Citing personal reasons, Silva resigned from the Olympiakos job in June 2016.
Hull City and onwards
Characteristic of his tendency to switch clubs quite regularly, Silva signed just a 6-month contract with Hull City. Managed by super agent Jorge Mendes (yet another common factor with Mourinho), it is clear that his ambitions are loftier than a potential Championship stint in the event of relegation. And if Hull does end up staying in the league, it might still be just as difficult to keep hold of him amidst interest from better clubs.
Having started off his Hull career with promising wins against Swansea in the FA Cup, Bournemouth in the league and even Manchester United in the second leg of the EFL Cup semi-final, the 39-year-old seems to be justifying his early career promise.
Being accustomed to setting teams up to dominate the opposition from his Sporting and Olympiakos days, it remains to be seen whether Silva can do the ultimate justice to the mini Mourinho tag – by setting his team up to stifle oppositions tactically and nick points with set pieces or on the counter.
