Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has labelled Jose Mourinho's claims of a media-led 'manhunt' against him 'laughable'.
Reports on Friday evening claimed that Mourinho would be sacked by the Old Trafford hierarchy after a string of bad results and off-the-field problems, regardless of Saturday's result against Newcastle.
United eventually came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 thanks to a last-minute goal from Alexis Sanchez, and after the game Mourinho spoke repeatedly of feeling 'hunted'.
However, speaking immediately after the game on BT Sport, Ferdinand rubbished the claims.
In Pictures | Manchester United vs Newcastle | 06/10/2018
"I don't know where wickedness and a man hunt comes from," Ferdinand said. "I don't know what he's talking about.
"You say what you see, you can't expect anything different.
"To sit and moan 'they're hunting me and it's wickedness', I find that laughable."
Instead, Ferdinand suggested that the kind of criticism Mourinho has come in for so far this season was simply part of the job.
"He's Manchester United manager," Ferdinand said. "Manchester United manager doesn't go unnoticed. Win, lose or draw, there's going to be scrutiny.
"When you sign up to manage Manchester United, you don't expect to come in there and have it all your own way."
