He had changed, he assured us. The self-styled "Special One" was now the Mild One and there was a collective nodding as the gullible ones bought into Jose Mourinho's promise that he was Mr. Nice Guy.
The Portuguese has a style and charisma that makes him a media darling, but even his compliments have a jagged edge.
After Chelsea's fortunate 2-1 win over an impressive and much-improved Aston Villa on Wednesday, Mourinho was full of praise for Paul Lambert's team — on the surface.