Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho says rumours surrounding Sam Allardyce and Co are unfair on current managers
The Special One has hit out at recent allegations and says the current rumours are unfair on managers currently in the game
JOSE MOURINHO has hit out at all the rumours being faced by managers since Sam Allardyce’s sacking.
The Manchester United boss made it clear punishments need to be dished out for wrongdoing in football.
But he is the first high-profile manager to speak out about concerns over the Daily Telegraph’s corruption investigation.
Big Sam lost his England job for what he said to undercover reporters, while Barnsley No 2 Tommy Wright was sacked after being filmed allegedly taking a £5,000 bribe.
And another part of the sting claims EIGHT current and former Premier League managers take illegal backhanders.
That has sent the rumour mill into overdrive, with speculation swirling about who could be accused next.
But the Special One says the uncertainty is unfair on bosses in the game.
Manchester United manager Mourinho said: “What I don’t like — to be honest I hate and don’t accept it — is the rumour.
“You cannot make fun with rumours as this is too serious to listen to rumours.
“You find a person, you prove a person guilty, and yes the world has to know and you don’t have to hide anything.
“But the rumours are not good. The doubts are not good. That is the only thing that I will say.
“In relation to Sam specifically, I feel sorry for him because I know that was his dream job.
“But if he and the Football Association realise it was a mistake, he has to pay for the mistake.”
Mourinho and Allardyce were co-managers of England at charity football event Soccer Aid 2016 when they beat a Rest of the World XI in the summer.
The pair had fallen out when Mourinho made his “19th-century football” jibe after Big Sam’s then West Ham team held Mourinho’s Chelsea to a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge in January 2014.
But that was long forgotten at Soccer Aid, with Allardyce saying “It is great to see him back” when he was lined up with the newly-appointed United boss.
That televised football fundraiser at Old Trafford was before Allardyce left Sunderland to take the Three Lions job — which ended up only lasting one game and 67 days.
Allardyce was filmed talking about third-party ownership and how to get around the FA’s transfer regulations.
He left the England job less than a day after the revelations.
Mourinho added: “I feel sorry for him but anyone in our job has big responsibilities.
“If anyone makes mistakes, he has to pay for them.
“I’m not saying that Sam did, as I don’t know the process.
“I’m just saying that any one of us as managers has a big responsibility.”
The FA will only look at action against the agents involved in the sting after they have met with police this week.
They are also waiting for the full transcripts from the Daily Telegraph before deciding whether rules have been broken.
Agents Scott McGarvey and Dax Price, who were caught up in the sting operation, could also face an FA investigation.
Italian agent Pino Pagliara insisted he was lying when he said he knew of eight bosses who took bribes, adding he was just trying to impress businessmen to secure a contract.
He said: “I had to make sure my argument was compelling. I got a bit creative.”
On Friday night, Harry Redknapp was accused of knowing players had bet on matches, which the newspaper’s editor Chris Evans revealed on Twitter would be the last in the “Football For Sale” series, for now.