Sean prepared for day he’d finally come in from cold
Manchester United’s plan to offer Jose Mourinho a new contract hinges on him taking the club back into the Champions League.
United were preparing to hand their boss an extension and pay rise on the four-year deal he signed when he arrived at Old Trafford last summer when it seemed certain they would finish in the top four.
But the Red Devi ls wi l l only r e turn to the European elite now i f they win the Europa League Final against Ajax on Wednesday.
Mourinho was given parity with Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola as the world’s highest-paid manager when was handed a deal worth £15million-a-year last summer.
And MailSport understands United’s decision on whether to open talks with the Portuguese gaffer about extending his Old Trafford reign will be decided in Stockholm.
United will lose more than £50m in revenue if they fail to qualify for the Champions League, with their £75m-a-year kit manufacturing deal with adidas set to be slashed by 30 per cent. Sunderland boss David Moyes is on the verge of qui t t ing his relegated side.
The Black Cats face champions Chel sea today without 11 players.
Moyes is sick of taking f lak from the fans despite failing to get the financial backing from club owner Ellis Short.
Only concerns about his pay-off have kept the former Manchester United boss from quitting before now but many staff at the club believe he could be gone by the end of this week. Jurgen Klopp will not be sacked – even if Liverpool’s season ends in heartbreak.
The Kop boss has been assured by Anfield’s American powerbrokers that his job will not be on the line when the Reds go into their final game of the season today needing to beat Middlesbrough to secure a top-four finish.
Klopp, who signed a new six-year deal in July despite being in the job just eight months, insists he is under no pressure from the board.
He said: “I’ve 100 per cent support from the owners.” TV technology was used for the first time in a competitive international yesterday as Argentina’s Lautaro Martinez was sent off against England in the Under-20 World Cup in South Korea.
The striker saw red after a video panel alerted ref Abdulla Hassan Mohamed to Martinez’s elbow on Fikayo Tomori. England won the Group A opener 3- 0. Sean Dillon may have been in cold storage for months at Dundee United but never once skipped his pre-match routine in case he got a call.
And the Tannadice veteran insists it’s his dedication to being the perfect pro that put him in pole position to lead United back to the promised land.
The 33-year- old club captain had only started one league game in 2017 before being hauled off the bench after just eight minutes on Tuesday night in the first leg of the Terrors’ play- off clash with Falkirk.
In the return match on Friday, he was there for manager Ray McKinnon for the full 90 minutes – and delivered.
United’s come-from- behind win over the Bairns was a triumph of spirit that has taken United to within two games of a first-time return to the Premiership.
Not that Dillon enjoyed a minute of it – but his relief was only matched by his pride in being prepared.
He said: “You try to tell people to enjoy it but how can you enjoy that? That’s pressure. It’s mental.
“Even when we scored you’re thinking, ‘ We need another goal’. I know some of the lads celebrated but I can’t. I just can’t do it.
“Even after the game it’s just relief more than excitement.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m lucky to have won things in the past.
“Thankfully we’ve got through but there’s still a long way to go.”
Despite it being his testimonial season, the skipper has been on the periphery more often than he would have liked.
But he refused to let his standards drop – and was grateful for it when the call came.
He said: “I always expect to be involved all the time. I’m not being arrogant, I’m not an arrogant person.
“But I went to bed on Tuesday afternoon for my afternoon sleep as if I was starting. I had the same grub I always eat as if I was starting.
“And thankfully I did that because after eight minutes I got a chance.
“It’s just habit. You prepare for games. Don’t get me wrong, you go through phases especially this season because there have been times I’ve not been involved for long periods.
“It does get frustrating and sometimes you go into a game thinking you might not start.
“But the preparation doesn’t change – you still do what you normally do the day before.
“The day of the game you eat the same, if it’s an evening kick-off you go to bed in the afternoon.
“Even if you know you won’t be involved you know you’ve prepared in the right way.
“You’re ready to go if called on. Thankfully I was that way.
“I went from being in the stand against Morton for two games to play ing af ter eight minutes against Falkirk in the first game.
“I hadn’t played for a long time and I’m not saying I was very good – but if I hadn’t prepared right, I don’t think I’d have managed to do what I have in the last two games.
“Make sure you’re ready. If you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready.”
Af ter the disappointment of relegation last season, Dillon insists it would be a huge achievement if they beat Hamilton in the final and get back to the top flight.
He said: “There’s more pressure on us than ever. The pressure last year was incredible but slightly different. We didn’t produce and that was devastating.
“Especially living in Dundee you can’t get away from the fact you’ve let people down. “The manager speaks about making your family proud. “It has been tough at times but it has been enjoyable over the course of the season. So far so good. We’ve had a good run, a bad run, lots of question asked of us. “Thankfully we’ve been able to answer those and hopefully we can do it in the next two games.”