José Mourinho asks his side to ‘never lose its dignity’ in match programme

Manchester United are not in a good place right now

As everything that could possibly go wrong appears to be doing exactly that, José Mourinho has issued a rallying cry to his players in his programme notes tonight. After a string of bad results, and even worse performances, Mourinho has called on his players to 'fight, work, compete, win duels, and be humble'. He also stated that a club should 'never lose its dignity'. "All my life I have followed certain golden rules. A team can lose matches but never, ever its dignity," wrote the Portuguese boss.

"It must fight, work, compete, win duels, be humble. At end of every game players must be exhausted because of hard work for club, fans and each other."

United's 3-1 loss to West Ham at the weekend fuelled rumours that the clock is ticking for Mourinho at Old Trafford, and reports surfaced that the Portuguese manager has lost the faith of his players. Tonight's clash against Valencia will be a key test of Mourinho's ability to inspire his squad to bounce back from a bad run, but one suspects that even if United win tonight, he will still not make it through the season. Key relationships have been broken beyond repair and the squad look disinterested. Reports linking the club with the out of work Zinedine Zidane refuse to disappear, and it now feels like a matter of when, not if, Mourinho gets the sack.