While most of the European footballing world was distracted by the aftermath of the Champions League draw, two of Türkiye’s grandest clubs pulled the trigger on a pair of underperforming former Manchester United managers.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær was the first to bite the bullet as he was let go by Beşiktaş on Thursday evening. The so-called ‘Smiling Assassin’ only took over last January, steering a side which was sixth when he grabbed the reins up to fourth. There were notable wins against champions Galatasaray and Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe but European qualifying would prove to be Solskjær’s downfall this season.
Beşiktaş lost 6–2 on aggregate to Shakhtar Donetsk in the first round of Europa League qualifying which forced them to drop into the preliminaries of the Conference League.
After narrowly scraping through a nervy two-legged tie with Irish outfit St. Patrick’s Athletic—Solskjær’s side briefly fell 2–0 down at home to the team currently sitting fifth in the League of Ireland—Beşiktaş were knocked out of qualifying for Europe’s third tier competition by Swiss side FC Lausanne, who—in another Manchester United-tinged wrinkle—are owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS.
Mourinho’s position at Fenerbahçe was also defined by continental qualification, or lack thereof. The two-time Champions League-winning manager ultimately couldn’t find a way past Benfica in the final round of matches before entry into the League Phase. Dropping back into the Europa League may not have been a sackable offence in and of itself, but Mourinho publicly criticised his employers before the second leg loss.
Lamenting a lack of new signings in the wake of Fenerbahçe’s first qualifying victory over Feyenoord, Mourinho sniped: “I don’t think the club made any extra effort to provide me with more opportunities for these two Benfica matches. If the Champions League was vital for my club, something would have been done during the time between Feyenoord and Benfica.”
Mourinho also mused: “I know tomorrow’s match is very important, very important for the fans, but from a career perspective, it’s just a match. I don’t think careers will be affected.” That prediction didn’t age particularly well.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Both Sacked in Wild 11 Hours.
