GLOOM SPELLS DOOM JOSE

Too much negativity swirling around Old United hero Ince fears it’s end of road unless the moan-fest stops

Tom Hopkinson

JOSE MOURINHO could walk away from Manchester United.

That’s the opinion of former United midfielder Paul Ince, who is convinced the Portuguese will quit or the board will sack him if things don’t go well after a miserable, moody pre-season.

The Red Devils must hit the ground running in pursuit of their noisy neighbours.

And if they don’t, Ince believes the fans will turn on boss Mourinho and, one way or another, he’ll end up out of a job.

Ince (right) said: “The start of the season is so important for United, they’ve got to start well.

“If not, it’s going to go back to the same situation as last season, where the fans were on his back. If it does, he’ll say, ‘Enough is enough’, and walk out, or the board might say the same and make a change.

“You don’t want to see all this negativity. It’s the start of the season, it’s supposed to be an exciting time.

“The fans want to see a different Manchester United, a more attacking one which we didn’t see last season.

Grumpy

“Mourinho should be talking about the players coming to Old Trafford, how he’s changed the style, how it’s going to be exciting.

“But we’re less than a week away from the start of the season and it’s doom and gloom.

“Bad signals are coming out of Manchester United, it’s not good – I just don’t see any positivity there.” Ince knows the pressures that come with being a United employee and the pressures of football management.

And he is convinced Mourinho’s living arrangements are not helping him to cope with them.

He added: “You know what Mourinho is like, this is nothing we haven’t seen before.

“We saw it at Chelsea. There’s a tendency, when he’s not happy with things, that he shows it.

“He moans about things you think there’s no reason to moan about, but that’s him down to a tee.

“It started last season, he was openly having a go at a few of his players, which you don’t want to hear, you want to keep that internal, and it’s carried on from there. He’s definitely in one of those moods where he’s clearly not happy, and the fact he’s still living in a hotel in Manchester can’t be easy. “I can’t understand that set-up. You can’t ever settle in at a hotel, no matter how nice the suite is. “If your family is living hundreds of miles away in London, you’re going to miss them. I’d be grumpy in that situation, too. “And with his living arrangements, Mourinho doesn’t have that personal escape, so it’s a bit strange he hasn’t found himself a place where he can feel more comfortable. He’s been grumpy for a while, and I’m sure that’s a part of it.” Mourinho’s mood has not been helped by the situation with Anthony Martial, who didn’t return to the pre-season tour of the United States after travelling back to Paris to be with his partner for the birth of their son, Swan Anthony.

Ince said: “It’s a difficult one. It’s all based on circumstances, on how his partner comes out of the birth. Were there issues with the baby?

“If that wasn’t the case, once I’d seen my three born, the next day I was back in training.

Relevant

“So you can see it from both sides what Mourinho is trying to say, but is it really a subject we should be talking about?

“We keep talking about things that aren’t relevant to this season, where Jose has come out and said something when I don’t think he’s had to.”

Paul Ince is an ambassador for Paddy Power.