Roma sacked Mourinho

ROMA:

Jose Mourinho’s time at Roma came to an end on Tuesday after the Serie A club sacked the “Special One” midway through a deeply disappointing third season in the Italian capital.

Mourinho leaves Roma after an emotional two-and-a-half years in which he won the Europa Conference League in 2022, ending a 14-year trophy drought for the capital club.

Roma said Mourinho would leave his staff “with immediate effect”, adding that it was “in the best interest of the club” after a string of poor results left the team off the pace in Italy’s top flight.

Italian media say former Roma captain Daniele De Rossi, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, is the favorite to replace Mourinho as manager.

Mourinho’s contract was due to expire in June and although he had repeatedly stated that he wanted to stay, talks to extend his deal never took place.

Rumors of his departure have become more persistent after Sunday’s dismal 3-1 defeat by AC Milan, which left Roma ninth in Serie A, five points off the Champions League places.

“We would like to thank Jose on behalf of all of us at AS Roma for his passion and efforts since his arrival at the club,” owners Dan and Ryan Friedkin said in a statement.

“We will always have great memories of his time at Roma, but we believe an immediate change is in the best interests of the club.

“We wish Jose and his assistants the best in their future endeavors.”

The 60-year-old Portuguese was a shock appointment in 2021, with Roma announcing his arrival as Paulo Fonseca’s replacement almost completely out of the blue.

He instantly became a huge fan favourite, with his image plastered on walls around Rome as fans dreamed of success under one of football’s greatest managers.

And in his first season he led Roma to their inaugural Conference League, a triumph that brought Mourinho to tears on the pitch and made him an almost godlike figure to one of Europe’s most passionate and hungry fans.

It then went to a penalty shoot-out to win back-to-back European finals, with Roma falling at the final hurdle against Sevilla in last season’s Europa League.

This was a defeat that infuriated both Mourinho and their supporters, who attacked referee Anthony Taylor with chairs at Budapest’s Ferenc Liszt Airport in anger at the poor decisions they felt cost their team the trophy.

However, the magic between Mourinho and the fans has begun to wear off this term, with poor results and performances due in part to a string of injuries and summer signings that have failed to deliver.

Roma failed to qualify for the lucrative Champions League under Mourinho, a major problem for a club operating under Financial Fair Play restrictions struggling to balance its books.

De Rossi is another icon for Roma fans as a well-rounded local boy who played in some of the club’s best teams over the past two decades, alongside Francesco Totti.

The 40-year-old has little pedigree as a manager, however, his only stint at SPAL lasting just four months last season, which ended with the club relegated to third-tier Serie C.