Jose Mourinho is never one to hold back - even when it comes to pre-season 'friendlies'.
The Portuguese coach is now in charge of Italian giants AS Roma but he was livid during a warm-up game against Championship newcomers Sunderland. The two teams were meeting on their respective tours of Portugal and the bounce match was intended to be a good test for both as they continue preparations for their upcoming campaigns.
But a flashpoint clearly irked Mourinho. It came when Black Cats' midfielder Luke O'Nien appeared to catch Roma's Roger Ibanez with a stray elbow. The 27-year-old had been booked just prior to the incident and it led to ex-Chelsea and Manchester United chief Mourinho making his way on to the pitch to remonstrate with the referee.
Sunderland moved to quickly defuse the situation by substituting O'Nien shortly before the interval. Thankfully the rest of the contest was played at a competitive but controlled tempo with the Italians, who beat Feyenoord to win the inaugural Europa Conference League last season, running out 2-0 winners.
Sunderland fans clearly saw the funny side of Mourinho's latest episode. One wrote: "Never thought I’d see Jose Mourinho asking Sunderland to take Luke O’Nien off because his team couldn’t handle him but here we are." Another said: "09 (O'Nien) living rent free in Mourinho’s head. Love to see it."
Sunderland were promoted back to the Championship last year after beating Wycombe Wanderers in the League One play-off final at Wembley. Speaking after that victory, boss Alex Neil dedicated the win to the club's long-suffering fans who had witnessed two relegations and two play-off near-misses in the five seasons prior.
"I'm buzzing for the fans," said Neil. "This club shouldn't be where it is, and this is the first step towards getting us back where we want to be," "I thought we deserved to win. Wycombe have done great this season, we knew a lot of people had heavily backed us, but that's normal for us. We coped with that really well, the lads deserve it.
"The biggest pressure was from myself - the hierarchy, the people who own the club, that's not what was discussed, it was, 'How can you help us, how can you fix the things that need fixing?'
"For me, coming to a job like this in League One, I don't want to manage in League One - I had to try to get the club out of League One, to become a Championship manager again, under a lot of pressure and scrutiny. But with a group of players like that, it's not a problem."
Neil has so far only brought in two new signings - both from North London clubs. Defender Dan Ballard arrived from Arsenal whilst former loanee Jack Clarke re-joins on a permanent basis from Tottenham. Speaking of the latter's addition, Neil said: "Jack is a player with huge potential. We had him last season and I think he grew stronger and stronger as the season went on, but the most important thing for him is that he’s now our player."
