Jose Mourinho returns to Stamford Bridge today (Sunday) for the first time since Chelsea sacked him claiming he will no longer be "the Special One" if he fails to win silverware at Manchester United.
Mourinho won three Premier League titles with Chelsea before his second spell in charge ended ignominiously last December, when he was dismissed with the club a point above the relegation zone only seven months after winning the championship.
The Portuguese is determined to ensure his time at United does not end in similar disappointment, but he is also under pressure to deliver results against his former club.
United have taken just five points from their past five league matches, and will fall five points behind Chelsea if Mourinho's eagerly awaited return to Stamford Bridge ends in defeat.
"Connections start before titles are won but it is success that brings -empathy between the supporters and managers and makes that connection become really strong," Mourinho said.
"I have a three-year contract here [at United] and, if I am here for three years, the people will know that I have given everything to the club and that I am a professional and dedicated coach who gives himself 24 hours a day to United.
"But if, at the end of the three years, I don't win a single piece of silverware for them, they will say 'great guy, good coach, we like him, but we feel nothing special about him'.
"Chelsea have won four Premier League titles in their history. Three of them were with me and the other one was won by the team I left behind. "I took them to Wembley, I took them to cup -finals. So there is a connection based on empathy - but built on success."
Mourinho said he will never forget the support shown to him by Chelsea fans during his difficult final months in charge last season but insisted he was out to hurt them this afternoon.
"In the end at Chelsea, when the last two or three months of my time at the club were a period of bad results, the fans kept that empathy and remembered our relationship," he said.
"That is something I don't forget and that is something I will always be -grateful to them for because, with me, they have always behaved in a fantastic way. I have loved every club that I have worked for. I have this professional heart that makes me connect 101 per cent with my club.
"When I was growing up in Portugal, I was not a born a Porto supporter - but I still gave my life to Porto. I also gave my life to Madrid, I gave my life to Inter and I gave my life to Chelsea. Now I give my life to United. That is my professional nature. So I am 100 per cent United now."
Mourinho will face Antonio Conte, the man now tasked with steering Chelsea's fortunes, for only the third time in his career, although he initially had difficulty recalling those meetings. Mourinho's Inter Milan team beat Conte's Atalanta 3-1 at home and drew 1-1 away during the 2009/10 Serie A campaign.