Jose Mourinho has said he will not visit any “high-profile matches” to avoid igniting any speculation over his next destination, so any possibility of taking over the managerial charge at either Brighton or Middlesbrough can be ruled out following his appearance in the stands at the American Express Community Stadium when the top two in the Championship were battling it out yesterday. Brighton eventually lost the match 3-0 while their unbeaten run in championship were ended and Arsenal fans can start mocking Mourinho as his presence brought bad luck for Brighton.
Mourinho was axed by Chelsea on Thursday after watching his squad suffer a ninth league defeat of the season on Monday in the 2-1 loss at Leicester. The final decision to sack Mourinho was taken after an emergency board meeting led by club owner Roman Abramovich, with former manager Guus Hiddink was appointed as an interim manager for this season, and the sudden sacking immediately triggered speculations of what the Portuguese’s next destination will be.
However, Mourinho was reportedly determined to be appointed as the next Manchester United manager once Louis van Gaal leaves his role, or being sacked after United’s latest defeat. The agency who represents Mourinho released a statement on Saturday to confirm the Portuguese is not in a mood to take a sabbatical and is already searching for the next job.
But the sight of recently sacked Jose, with a freshly shaven head, in the stands at Brighton appeared too much for the fans. With merely 45 hours since being axed by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, Mourinho was already at a football match to fulfil the earlier released statement’s confirmation of visiting games due to his “love of football”.
While neither Brighton nor Boro are expected to feature on the Portuguese’s shortlist of possible destinations, Chris Hughton and Aitor Karanka both were pleased to see him in the stands as they knew he’s not after their jobs.
As a matter of fact, Mourinho has a good relation with Karanka after they worked together at Real Madrid, with the Middlesbrough manager acting as Mourinho’s assistant at Santiago Bernabeu before appointed as Middlesbrough manager.