Portuguese football tactician, Jose Mourinho, and Manchester United former manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, have been sacked as the managers of their Turkish clubs, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş, following defeats in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League and Europa Conference League.
The two of Türkiye’s grandest clubs pulled the trigger on a pair of underperforming former managers hours after each other to allow the appointment of new tacticians who could assist their pursuits for the league title.
While Solskjær was the first to bite the bullet from Beşiktaş yesterday, Fenerbahçe announced its decision on Friday, just over a year after taking up the role and earning the club a Champions League play-offs spot, but could not lead the team past a club from his country, Benfica.
Mourinho’s sack came two days after the Turkish club was eliminated from the Champions League, missing out on the league phase.
In a short statement, Fenerbahce said Mourinho had “parted ways” with the club, before thanking the 62-year-old for his efforts.
“We wish him success in his future career,” the statement added.
For Solskjær, the so-called ‘Smiling Assassin’ only took over last January, steering a side that was sixth when he grabbed the reins up to fourth. There were notable wins against champions Galatasaray and Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe, but European qualifying would prove to be Solskjær’s downfall this season.
Beşiktaş lost 6–2 on aggregate to Shakhtar Donetsk in the first round of Europa League qualifying, which forced them to drop into the preliminaries of the Conference League.
After narrowly scraping through a nervy two-legged tie with Irish outfit St. Patrick’s Athletic—Solskjær’s side briefly fell 2–0 down at home to the team currently sitting fifth in the League of Ireland—Beşiktaş were knocked out of qualifying for Europe’s third tier competition by Swiss side FC Lausanne, who—in another Manchester United-tinged wrinkle—are owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS.
Mourinho, who has managed 10 clubs including Chelsea, Manchester United, and Tottenham, guided Fenerbahce to second in the league during his sole season in charge, but his tenure was punctuated by controversy.
Champions Galatasaray said they would “initiate criminal proceedings” against Mourinho, after accusing him of making “racist statements” following a 0-0 draw in February.
He denied the allegations, saying he is the “opposite” of racist, and filed a lawsuit against the club seeking damages worth 1,907,000 Turkish Lira (£41,000).
The manager was a frequent critic of the standard of officiating in Turkey, and was handed a four-match ban – later reduced to two matches – for his comments about referees after the match against Galatasaray.
Following a 1-1 Europa League draw with Manchester United in October, during which Mourinho was sent off, he stated that he wanted to manage a team “at the bottom of the table in England” after leaving Fenerbahçe, so he would not have to participate in UEFA competitions.
Mourinho joined Fenerbahce following three years at Roma, where he won the Conference League in 2022 – the club’s only European trophy.
He previously had two spells at Chelsea, where he won three Premier League titles, and was a Champions League winner at Inter Milan and Porto.
In 2017, he guided Manchester United to Europa League success—their first time winning the competition and their most recent European trophy.
