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Jose Mourinho is due to meet with the Manchester United board in the next week, in a meeting to discuss the many problems encountered this season and the bad atmosphere around the team.
While high-level United sources have dismissed reports he is due to be sacked before Monday and state he is under no “immediate” threat, The Independent has been told many executives now feel the situation is “getting to the point of no return”.
Mourinho will be asked about an increasingly fractious relationship between himself and the squad, that has given rise to a number of problems this season, most relevantly a series of bad results and bad performances.
Jose Mourinho's potential replacementsShow all 14 1 /14Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Who could potentially replace Jose Mourinho at Manchester United?
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Zinedine Zidane Current job: N/A Odds: 5/4 A three-time Champions League winner in his two-and-a-half years at Real Madrid, Zidane is the favourite to replace Mourinho. The 46-year-old has proved adept at managing egos and would be a popular choice with Old Trafford's French contingent, though doubts over his true extent of managerial ability remain.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Antonio Conte Current job: N/A Odds: 10/1 Dismissed from Stamford Bridge this summer, Conte has a proven track record of winning trophies and Premier League pedigree. United, however, may be understandably wary about appointing another manager who has recently left Chelsea in acrimonious circumstances.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Leonardo Jardim Current job: N/A Odds: 10/1 The highly-rated Jardim led Monaco to the Champions League semi-finals two seasons ago but was dismissed by the club recently after a poor start to the Ligue 1 season.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Mauricio Pochettino Current job: Tottenham Hotspur Odds: 12/1 Pochettino has never hidden his ambitions to manage at the very highest level and would offer a more attractive style of play than his close friend Mourinho. Snaring him from Tottenham would be difficult but a power play on United's part.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Brendan Rodgers Current job: Celtic Odds: 20/1 Rodgers appears to be coming to the end of time at Celtic, after disputes with the board. His association with Liverpool is likely to be a barrier to any role at Old Trafford, though.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Roberto Martinez Current job: Belgium Odds: 20/1 Martinez has restored his reputation somewhat after leading Belgium to a third-place finish at the World Cup. His three years at Everton came with mixed fortunes.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Carlo Ancelotti Current job: Napoli Odds: 20/1 A safe pair of hands, Ancelotti would - much like his former Madrid assistant Zidane - settle the dressing room and cope well with managing its various egos. His recent appointment at Napoli makes any return to the Premier League unlikely.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Laurent Blanc Current job: N/A Odds: 20/1 Spent the final years of his playing career at United under Sir Alex Ferguson, Blanc has previously linked with a return to Old Trafford. Out of work since leaving Paris Saint-Germain in 2016, he may have been away from the elite level too long.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Massimiliano Allegri Current job: Juventus Odds: 20/1 Allegri has enjoyed consistent success with Juventus in Italy, winning four consecutive Scudettos and reaching two Champions League finals. Vowed to move abroad once his time with the Old Lady is done but unlikely to depart any time soon.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Ryan Giggs Current job: Wales Odds: 25/1 A club legend, caretaker in the aftermath of David Moyes' reign and an assistant to Louis van Gaal. Giggs was overlooked when Mourinho was appointed and promptly left. Now in charge of Wales, he still has much to prove in management.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Didier Deschamps Current job: France Odds: 33/1 France's World Cup-winning manager would obviously be a hit with a certain midfielder at Old Trafford but whether his style of play would represent much of a change from Mourinho is debatable.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Diego Simeone Current job: Atletico Madrid Odds: 33/1 Perhaps Mourinho's heir as the finest practioner of reactive, safety-first football in Europe, Simeone has given little indication that he is ready to leave his beloved Atletico.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Eddie Howe Current job: Bournemouth Odds: 33/1 Approaching flavour-of-the-month status following Bournemouth's strong start to the season, Howe is nevertheless a talented, young English coach committed to an attractive brand of football. Perhaps ill-prepared for a job of this magnitude.
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The Portuguese has regularly criticised the attitude of his players in recent weeks and, earlier this week, warned his squad they were in danger of losing their “dignity”.
“All of my life, I have followed certain golden rules,” he wrote in his programme notes for Tuesday’s goalless draw with Valencia.
“One of them is that a team can lose matches - that is just part of football - but the team must never, ever lose its dignity.
“That leads me to another pair of golden rules that must be followed: the team is always more important than the individual, and the crest on the chest is more important than the name on the back of the shirt.
United host Newcastle on Saturday, having not won a single game in three weeks, since the 2-1 away to Watford.
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