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Mauricio Pochettino does not walk away with his reputation entirely unimpeached.
Those tedious interior monologues of his these past year or so - stoking the controversy about how long he will stay, perpetually hinting at internal strife - have been a greater source of instability than anything else at Tottenham. They've been classless, actually. And Pochettino actually wondered why so many of his players looked to a future beyond north London?
Yes of course, he has been a life-affirming presence. A source of joy to so many of us. One in a line of supremely gifted managers, running right back to Busby and Shankly to Clough, through Robson, Ferguson and Klopp, who put humanity, fundamental optimism and a huge heart at the centre of all they do and then watched their players soar.
A story from Son Heung-min's difficult first season at Tottenham reveals much. The player had been struggling so much that even an 11-a-side game against the club's academy players proved beyond him. The two spent long hours talking through the summer and Pochettino fielded Son at Stoke in the fourth game of the subsequent season in an attempt to 'wipe the slate clean'. He scored, provided an assist, defended in spades and never looked back.
Compare this philosophy with Mourinho at Manchester United, lamenting the physical superiority of Liverpool players like Andy Robertson, Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Naby Keita and Fabinho last season, which he claimed he was powerless to affect with his team of inferiors.
'There are qualities that a player has or he doesn't have,' Mourinho claimed. 'You cannot improve, you cannot make them have (these qualities).' Staggering.
That was the day which told many United fans this brooding, self-absorbed individual, interested only in how he might look, had no place at their club. Surprising it took so long, since he had sulked and preened his way through his time there — so blinded to how ridiculous he looked with his deluxe suite at the Lowry Hotel and chauffeur-driven limousines home to London.
Tottenham have illuminated the Premier League under Pochettino, proving there is another way, an English way, and that financial transactions are not the only requirement.
Engaging Mourinho as his successor could be a catastrophe. The club and the game can only hope for an interregnum and caretaker lasting months, rather than an individual who will bring the entire edifice crashing down.
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