Jose Mourinho suffers new blow as fans’ backing plummets after Chelsea defeat
Manchester United boss was already under pressure after lacklustre results and Lukaku row with supporters. But exclusive Sun poll shows true extent of how Old Trafford faithful are beginning to turn on him
IT may have been the weekend which cost Slaven Bilic his job but it was Jose Mourinho who was the biggest loser when it came to the backing of the fans.
An exclusive SunSport poll shows Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat at Chelsea saw the number of supporters who are satisfied with the job he’s doing plummet dramatically from 75 per cent to just 43 per cent.
The alarming drop in support underlines how the pressure is piling on the Portuguese boss, who was already being blasted for a string of lacklustre displays and also his attack on fans for criticising his handling of the “Untouchable” Romelu Lukaka.
Mourinho’s approval rating of just 43 per cent is a season-low for him and in stark contrast to the 96 per cent of fans who adored him at the end of August, when United sat top of the table with three wins out of three.
To make matters worse, bitter rival Pep Guardiola has seen the esteem in which he’s held by the Etihad faithful grow and grow, with 99 per cent now agreed that he is doing an “excellent” or very good” job.
Jose suffered the biggest slump in this week’s Voice of the Fans approval ratings survey, clearly ahead of Newcastle’s Rafa Benitez and Swansea’s Paul Clement in second and third place.
Benitez saw his backing drop by 12 per cent to a still strong 85 per cent following the Toon’s 1-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth.
Clement suffered a ten per cent drop, falling to an extremely precarious four cent backing.
MOUR MONEY Jose warned he won't be able to just dive into market to rejuvenate Reds
That’s the same amount of fans who were still behind doomed West Ham boss Bilic before Davids Sullivan and Gold swung the axe at the London Stadium on Monday morning and replaced the Croat with David Moyes.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom for Premier League chiefs.
New Leicester manager Claude Puel, whose arrival at the KP Stadium was barely met with a smile let alone a cheer, saw his support soar from an uncomfortable 39 per cent to a healthy 64 per cent after the Foxes’ lively 2-2 draw away at Midlands rivals Stoke.
Eddie Howe welcomed an identical 25 per cent rise after Steve Cook’s late winner for the Cherries made their mammoth trek to the North East well worth the fans’ petrol money.
And while it was the worst weekend imaginable for Slaven Bilic after his side’s 4-1 loss at home to Liverpool, the result meant a 21 per cent surge in support for Jurgen Klopp in the opposite dugout.
The pressure would appear to be off those three for the time being but spare a thought for Mark Hughes.
The struggling Stoke boss, whose side sits 15th in the table, saw neither a rise or fall in his backing at the weekend – but remained with exactly zero per cent of fans confident in the job he’s doing.
Also looking over their shoulders once the international break is over will be West Brom’s Tony Pulis, on four per cent, and Mauricio Pellegrino, who has just two per cent of Saints’ fans backing him.
Not that Pulis is bothered, he’s spending his time off relaxing in Barbados.
And wouldn’t it be interesting to know what fans think of that…
