Jose Mourinho was clearly not happy with his Roma players as he left the club (Picture: EPA)
Jose Mourinho left a cutting message to his Roma players after being sacked by the Serie A club, while he also returned a gift he was given by his squad.
The former Chelsea boss had a memorable time in the Italian capital, winning the Europa Conference League and reaching the Europa League final in back-to-back seasons.
Performances in Serie A, and tensions between manager and some of his players, eventually saw Mourinho sacked last month after two-and-a-half years in charge.
The Portuguese did not quite take the high road as he left Roma, instead making his disappointment clear to the players on his way out.
Rome-based publication Il Messaggero report, via The Daily Mail, that Mourinho had been given a ring by the Roma players after winning the Europa Conference League in 2022 and the departing manager left it in the locker of team captain Lorenzo Pellegrini.
The report also states that he left a note with the returned gift which read: ‘When you are men, give it back to me.’
Mourinho had been openly critical of his Roma players at times during his final season at the club and he was clearly still unhappy with them after he was ousted.
Daniele De Rossi is enjoying the perfect start as Roma boss (Picture: Getty Images)
Things have improved for Roma on the pitch since Mourinho left last month, with three victories on the spin.
The 61-year-old was dismissed after a 3-1 loss at AC Milan but with club legend Daniele De Rossi now in charge they have beaten Verona, Salernitana and Cagliari to climb to fifth in Serie A.
After the 4-0 win over Cagliari last time out, De Rossi told Sky Sports: ‘I don’t look at our position in the table. I look at the points collect, and the good things that the boys do on the field. Roma are stronger than these teams that we faced recently and must win these types of matches.
‘First of all, I told the lads that from a negative situation we all pull out together in the same direction. I think the guys are very strong, as a footballer I have had so many up and down periods but they must never stop believing how good they are, because they are. They are a strong group’
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