Sam Allardyce: Jose Mourinho 'feels sorry' for sacked England manager and will stand by him

Allardyce has received messages of support from a number of figures within the game

Jose Mourinho has said he 'feels sorry' Sam Allardyce, who left his position as England manager on Tuesday after was caught offering advice on how to "get around" player transfer rules.

The Football Association and Allardyce agreed to mutually terminate his contract just 67 days after his appointment, following behaviour which was deemed "inappropriate of the England manager".

Allardyce has received messages of support from a number of figures within the game, and the Manchester United manager has now expressed his sympathy with the former Bolton, Newcastle and West Ham boss.

"The only thing I can say is that I like Sam. I feel sorry for that because I know that was a dream job and I feel sorry for him," he said at a pre-match press conference ahead of his side's Europa League meeting with Zorya Luhansk on Thursday.

"The second thing I can say is that what happened obviously is not going to interfere with my own relations with him. I like him and respected him before and that is not going to change.

"The third thing is it is between him and the FA. I have nothing to say with it."

Allardyce was the subject of a undercover sting by a group of journalists from the Daily Telegraph posing a businessmen, who filmed the 61-year-old coach advising them how to circumvent FA rules on third-party ownership of players.

The journalists also negotiated a £400,000 deal with Allardyce for speaking appearances in Hong Kong and Singapore, and was filmed mocking the rhotacism of his Roy Hodgson, his predecessor as England manager.

Allardyce reacted to his dismissal on Wednesday morning, telling Sky Sports News: "On reflection it was a silly thing to do, but just to let everybody know I helped out somebody I've known for 30 years.

"Unfortunately it was an error of judgement on my behalf and I've paid the consequences. Entrapment has won on this occasion and I have to accept that.

"The agreement was done very amicably with the FA, I apologise to all those in this unfortunate situation I've put myself in.

"I have a confidentiality agreement and I've taken the time to talk on this matter. I can't answer any more questions now and I'm going to go away and reflect on it."