Steve Bruce is delighted 'good-looking b******'' Jose Mourinho is back in football and joked he has five months to prepare a game plan to prolong the Spurs boss' St James' Park hoodoo.
The pair first came up against each other back in 2004 when Bruce was in charge of Birmingham City and Mourinho was at Chelsea and have remained friendly ever since.
That relationship proved crucial to Mourinho allowing goalkeeper Sam Johnstone to join Aston Villa on loan during his time at Manchester United , for example.
While Bruce is certainly looking forward to meeting Mourinho on the touchline again, the Newcastle head coach has been keen to pay tribute to Mourinho's predecessor, Mauricio Pochettino, too.
"I was like everybody else when he got the job at Chelsea, proclaiming himself as the Special One and he wasn't wrong," he told ChronicleLive.
"He had gold dust, he had that sparkle, something different and, of course, being such a good-looking b****** as well, he had the lot!
"I'm delighted he's back. He's helped me enormously over the years. I keep in touch with him. The game needs people like Jose and it will be interesting to see now what he does at Spurs. It's good to see him back.
"The other one, Pochettino, I have huge, huge respect for him as well. What a job he's done at Tottenham over the last few years.
"That somebody who got to a Champions League final in May is unemployed today is incredible but that's the industry we live in. This mad, mad world of football that we all can't do without."
Mourinho has never won a league game at St James' Park and this will be his fourth stint in the Premier League where he will look to finally break that curse.
While Mourinho has managed more away league games at Newcastle without winning than at any other club in his career,the Portuguese likes coming to the North East.
Not only does Mourinho have a deep-rooted respect for the Geordies, and the club's heritage, but visiting St James' Park helps him to reconnect with mentor Sir Bobby Robson .
Graeme Souness, Glenn Roeder, Alan Pardew, Steve McClaren and Rafa Benitez have all taken points off Mourinho and Bruce will hope to follow in their footsteps on May 2.
"I've heard that. Jesus, I've got something to live up to here!" he added. "So I've got five months to prepare for that one."
