Jose Mourinho hands back Roma gift and leaves petty nine-word message for players after sacking

Jose Mourinho left his former Roma stars a sour nine-word farewell note after his sacking last month.

The ‘Special One’ was dismissed as the club’s head coach after slipping to ninth in the Serie A table and a disappointing Coppa Italia exit to city rivals Lazio.

His back-to-back European final appearances were not considered enough to save him as the club wielded the axe following a limp 3-1 defeat at AC Milan on January 14.

It was all tears when the 61-year-old left the club’s Trigoria training ground for the final time, to a raucous ovation from the club’s supporters.

But it appears the tears were short-lived as a bitter Mourinho returned a ring he had been gifted by his players after the club lifted the inaugural European Conference League in 2022.

After learning of his sacking, Mourinho left the ring in the locker of captain Lorenzo Pellegrini before making his exit.

According to Il Messaggero, the ring was accompanied by a note from the Portuguese which read: “When you are men, give it back to me.”

The note represented Mourinho’s feelings of betrayal towards his players whose indifferent form led to the sacking.

Roma legend Daniele De Rossi was immediately sworn in as interim head coach and has since led the Giallorossi to three wins from three games.

The capital club have quickly found their groove under the guidance of the decorated 40-year-old and capped off their new-found confidence with a 4-0 win over Claudio Ranieri’s Cagliari on Monday.

Roma have now climbed to fifth in Serie A and given themselves a realistic shot at Champions League qualification – something they failed to achieve under Mourinho.

Meanwhile, the Portuguese has been linked to vacant roles in the Saudi Pro League, while recent speculation over a return to former club’s Chelsea and Manchester United has ramped up.