Paul Pogba has been stripped of the Manchester United vice-captaincy by manager Jose Mourinho.
The build up to Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup tie against Derby was disrupted by reports that United’s club-record signing’s tense relationship with the manager had reached a new low.
France international Pogba, who has captained the side three times this season, said after the 1-1 Premier League draw with promoted Wolves that the Red Devils should “attack, attack, attack”, which has reportedly not gone down well with Mourinho.
Here, Press Association Sport takes a look at some relationships between player and manager to have hit a rough patch.
Mario Balotelli and Roberto Mancini
It is not just team-mates who can sometimes end up toe-to-toe on the training ground. A flashpoint, which was snapped by photographers, between then Manchester City manager Mancini and striker Balotelli made headlines in January 2013. Balotelli was ordered off the training pitch following a lunge at Scott Sinclair, but refused to leave. That prompted an infuriated Mancini to attempt to drag the player away, and the two Italians were eventually separated by assistant boss Brian Kidd.
David Beckham and Sir Alex Ferguson
Beckham was left with a reminder of his brush with Ferguson after being caught just above the eye by a boot sent flying by the manager in the wake of a 2-0 FA Cup fifth-round defeat by Arsenal in February 2003. “It was a freakish incident. If I tried it 100 or a million times it couldn’t happen again. If I could I would have carried on playing!” the Scot said later. Beckham left the club that summer.
Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy
During the build-up to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, Republic of Ireland captain Keane was unimpressed with the squad’s training facilities. Keane said exactly what he thought in a meeting with manager McCarthy, after which he was sent home and replaced as skipper by Steve Staunton.
Alan Shearer and Ruud Gullit
It would take a brave man to challenge Shearer’s authority on Tyneside, but Newcastle boss Gullit was willing to do so back in 1999. The Dutchman dropped Shearer and strike partner Duncan Ferguson for a high-profile derby against Sunderland, with memorable television footage showing the pair standing behind him in the teaming rain as Newcastle were beaten. They would not be exiled for long, with Gullit sacked and Shearer quickly restored to the captain’s armband. Relations between the pair have since thawed, appearing alongside each other in their roles as television pundits.
Paul Gascoigne and Glenn Hoddle
Ahead of the 1998 World Cup in France, and amid concerns over the fitness of a then 31 year-old Gascoigne, England manager Hoddle made the call of axing the Middlesbrough midfielder – star man of Euro 96 – from the final squad. It was, though, more the manner of how Hoddle went about informing the players, having to queue up to see him in a hotel room at specific times which raised eyebrows. A raging Gascoigne did not take the news well, trashing the room. Hoddle later wrote about the incident in his book. “He had snapped. He was ranting, swearing and slurring his words. He was acting like a man possessed,” the former England boss said.
