Bookmaker Ladbrookes’ odds for Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho to be dismissed this season have been shortened yet again by to 8/1, from an original price of 25/1 at the beginning of the campaign.Along with the likeliness of the 53-year-old’s sacking taking a tumble, the value of the Old Trafford club finishing outside of the top seven has dropped from 10/1 to 7/1. A season without a major trophy for the red side of Manchester stands odds-on at 8/13.
The shortening numbers reflect the Red Devils drop in form following a promising start to life under the Portuguese.
An initial run of three straight wins in August has been offset by September’s three straight losses in all competitions, including a 2-1 humbling by fellow new manager and arch rival, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Mourinho still enjoys carrying a formidable reputation in football management, having guided bothPorto and Inter Milan to a Champions League trophy, as well as bringing Chelsea their first top-flight title in 50 years.
However, the man known by the media as ‘The Special One’, has since run into a turbulence at the top – having failed to consolidate the Premier League title last season, his Chelsea side struggled to find both form and motivation. The former Real Madrid manager also ran into difficulties keeping his Los Blancos players in check – famously exiling Iker Casillas and having a bust up with Sergio Ramos.
Jose Mourinho boasts one of the largest trophy cabinets in football. But after departing both Chelsea and Madrid on bad terms, there is a sense that the Portuguese manager’s reputation is on the line at Old Trafford – and at 8/1 to be sacked by the end of the 2016/17 campaign, there’s a chance that he’s dicing with his legacy.
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