JOSE Mourinho’s interview with Sky last weekend made for a couple of hours of dynamite TV.

The Special One, or the “gave him a two goal headstart at home and still got knocked out of the cup” One as he’s known in these parts, was in irresistible form.

Like a dead-eyed sniper, he carefully picked off a succession of specific targets – from the “career-ending” challenge from Ashley Barnes to the broadcaster’s own hatchet job on Diego Costa, it was all fair game for the rapier comments of the Portuguese.

Love him or loathe him, you can never ignore Mourinho, and when he personally requested an audience after Chelsea’s controversial game with Burnley, Sky knew it would be box-office gold.

His biggest beef, among many others, was the supposed conspiracy he feels has built up against Chelsea. More specifically, the lack of calls they get with penalties.

Amazingly, considering they are the sitting top of the Premier League, Chelsea have been awarded only two spot-kicks all season – five fewer than closest rivals Manchester City. The sums don’t add up for such a free-scoring team and Mourinho smells a rat.

He has a kindred spirit in the man whose team ended his dreams of the quadruple in that unforgettable Stamford Bridge afternoon just over a month ago.

The City fans have taken to singing “Phil Parkinson is the Special One” ever since that second-half masterclass when his team of underdogs blew the FA Cup form book to smithereens.

But the link between Parkinson and the most successful manager in the modern-day game is stronger than you think.

They certainly share an injustice that officialdom are doing them no favours in the opposition box.

Just like Chelsea, the Bantams have only won two penalties all season – the last of them on September 13 against Swindon, which Alan Sheehan missed.

The Irishman converted the other on the opening day against Coventry, who also happened to be the Valley Parade opponents when City were given their previous spot-kick nine months earlier.

The statistics make ridiculous reading:

It is 31 games since referee Richard Clark last pointed to the spot in City’s favour.

Before the start of the season, they had gone 30 games without a penalty.

The hat-trick clincher Nahki Wells scored in the last minute against Coventry in November 2013 was the only penalty given in their first season back in League One.

City have been awarded only three penalties in 92 games – the equivalent of two full seasons.

They have not had one in an away game for over two years.

You thought City rarely got the rub of the green with spot-kick calls at Valley Parade. The home record is prolific compared with their travels.

You have to go back to February 12, 2013 for the last City penalty beyond BD8 when Nathan Doyle, of all people, converted successfully in a 3-0 win at Wycombe.

A Doyle goal in itself was as rare as hen’s teeth – his complete tally of two both came from that same midweek game – but who could have imagined that it would also signal such a milestone for the club.

So judging by the sums, it should come as no surprise that City’s heated appeals against Swindon in midweek – chiefly for the blatant handling of Billy Clarke’s cross late on – fell once more on deaf ears.

Parkinson’s post-match comments were borne as much from resignation as frustration.

Yes, some will say that he was trying to deflect attention away from a surprisingly insipid first-half display when Swindon could have been out of sight.

And they have a point to an extent. It’s standard managerial practice to highlight a supposed injustice and divert the headlines away from areas of poor performance.

But City’s effort after the break was much, much better and – with a bit of assistance from the assistant – could have salvaged a point. Whether they earned that over the game as a whole is a moot point but to not give them that opportunity from 12 yards was plain wrong.

Managers having a dig about referees is the oldest story of the game. We’ve seen it, read it and heard it a thousand times before.

No doubt the comments beneath this article on our website will tell Parkinson to move on, stop complaining and just accept when you’re beaten.

But it comes to a point when you have to say that enough is enough. Mourinho had a comfy sofa under the glare of the TV spotlights to air his grievances; Parkinson chose a windy, deserted stand in Swindon.

The venues could not have been further removed but they were talking from an identical script. Special One? More like the not given one ...