Friday 24 February 2017 22:24, UK
Jose Mourinho says his sacking by Chelsea was "peanuts" compared to Claudio Ranieri's dismissal by Leicester.
Mourinho - who wore a training top with the letters 'CR' on it at his pre-EFL Cup final press conference on Friday - was sacked by Chelsea in December 2015, seven months after he won the title. But the Manchester United boss says Ranieri's departure is far more of a shock than his own exit.
"I thought last season, when I was sacked as a champion, I thought it was a giant, negative thing," he said. "Now I realise that was peanuts compared with what happened to Claudio."
"My words are my shirt - with his name. My little homage to somebody who wrote the most beautiful history in the Premier League.
"[He is] somebody that probably deserves to have the Leicester stadium named 'The Claudio Ranieri [Stadium].' And he's sacked.
"Leicester made history two years in a row. One year, because he did the most beautiful thing - one of the most beautiful histories in football history. And now, a decision that has almost everyone in football united, because it is very, very difficult to accept."
Mourinho says the fate of Ranieri is a lesson for all in the increasingly insecure world of football management.
On Friday morning Mourinho had posted on Instagram: "Champion of England and FIFA manager of the year sacked. That's the new football Claudio. Keep smiling."
And he told the assembled media: "Sometimes it is good for all of us to realise how football is. We need to adapt to it. My Instagram was a little homage. My shirt is another one. I don't think he needs more homages. Nobody can delete what he did."