Jose Mourinho has claimed he received a text message from his Manchester United bosses warning him not to pay attention to newspapers on Saturday, following reports that he could lose his job imminently.
Mourinho said he received the message of support from the United hierarchy in the hours before Saturday’s spectacular 3-2 comeback win over Newcastle United, won by Alexis Sanchez’s last-minute header.
Newcastle went 2-0 up within the opening 10 minutes at Old Trafford, on the same day that a report claimed Mourinho would be sacked by United regardless of Saturday’s result.
A second-half comeback, with goals from Juan Mata, Anthony Martial and Sanchez, turned the game on its head in the final 20 minutes.
Mourinho hit back at the press after the final whistle, claiming he was the subject of a “man-hunt” in the media.
Speaking to radio station Talksport, Mourinho also said he had received assurances that he would not lose his job by text message on Saturday morning.
“The ones that read the papers, that are connected with social media, they thought maybe I had gone,” he said. “If I hadn’t had an SMS from my board not to read (the papers), I would have been convinced too.”
Mourinho said tongue-in-cheek that, such is the level of criticism he faces, he should be blamed for the weather and Brexit, while making the more sinister claim that he is the victim of a “man-hunt”.
“As a friend of mine was saying to me this morning, if tomorrow it rains in London it is my fault. If there is some difficulties with the agreements of Brexit, it is my fault," he told BT Sport.
“I have to be ready for all of this. I think a lot of wickedness and clear man-hunting, in football is too much. It is my life. It is life I love and since I was kid I work for this.”
