7 of the most infamous dressing room leaks in football history: Mourinho, Rangnick, Pulis…
Dressing room leaks are a scourge of football managers across the world – but some have become particularly infamous in the history of the sport.
When all is not well, it’s not surprising that damaging information makes its way into the media and undermines the manager in charge.
With Manchester United suffering from leaks under Ruben Amorim, we’ve trawled through the archives and picked out seven other examples of dressing room leaks.
Ralf Rangnick
Since Rangnick arrived at Manchester United in December 2021, a number of stories made their way out of the United camp and into the tabloids.
“What they do not realise is that unfortunately, when they go to the media then those media people go to us – so we know who is briefing,” former United captain Gary Neville said while clutching his pearls.
“The reality is that we do not like it, but we know who it is. We are not going to throw people under a bus here because we have that journalistic respect.”
During a particularly unhappy season for the club, rumours of dressing room unrest, the outsized influence of a fading Cristiano Ronaldo and vast amounts of ‘homework’ set by the manager for the bewildered players kept rival fans reaching for the popcorn.
Ted Lasso
And reports out of Rangnick’s United also stated that players have jokingly likened assistant coach Chris Armas to fictional character Ted Lasso, the hapless American who was thrust into managing AFC Richmond in the Apple+ comedy show.
None of the United players actually denied this report, leaving Gary Neville furious after seeing the story.
“The fact they were describing the number two of Ralf Rangnick as Ted Lasso, I didn’t find it funny at all. I found it disrespectful, I found it disgusting,” Neville told Sky Sports.
“In fact, it actually summed up what I think of them, they are disrespectful.
“I think if I was Ralf Rangnick and his number two, I would gain strength from that because I wouldn’t want to be on the same page as some of those players who are leaking that story.”
Jose Mourinho
Leaks from post-Ferguson Manchester United are nothing knew – with even diplomacy’s Jose Mourinho on the receiving end during his time at Old Trafford.
The Daily Telegraph were told that the general mood amongst the squad was a poor one, and the team were unhappy with the blunt, direct approach of their newly-appointed boss in 2016.
“His delivery of criticism is nasty,” the Telegraph were told. “It is far more personal than Fergie (Sir Alex Ferguson) ever was.”
While it’s pretty easy to imagine Mourinho giving the under-performing squad a few home truths, it does beg the question why United appointed the Portuguese if they knew the players would react so poorly to him doing so.
Jose Mourinho and his laundry basket
In 2005, Mourinho was given a two-game stadium ban after accusing Barcelona midfielder Frank Rijkaard of visiting the referee’s office at half-time of their Champions League last-16 match.
With all his natural tact, the Special One said the meeting between the Barca boss and referee Anders Frisk led to Didier Drogba being sent off during the first leg.
Chelsea still progressed in one of the classic Champions League knockout ties, but Mourinho’s comments landed him with a ban for the quarter-final against Bayern Munich.
It was later leaked that the Portuguese boss was sneaked into the dressing room via a laundry basket, with UEFA taking a naturally dim view of Mourinho’s antics while Chelsea fans swooned and neutrals smiled.
“The fundamental thing of it is: Chelsea v Bayern Munich, a big match in the Champions League. I need to be with my players,” Mourinho said in a later interview.
“And I did it, yeah.”
READ NEXT: Remembering when Jose Mourinho hid in a laundry basket v Bayern
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Paolo Di Canio
West Ham’s 2002-03 squad is widely regarded as the best to have ever been relegated from the Premier League, going down with 42 points despite a plethora of stars turning out at Upton Park.
While the failure to win a home game until the end of January and the persistence with an out-of-his-depth Glenn Roeder all contributed to the Hammers’ downfall, having an unhappy Di Canio in the dressing room couldn’t have been good for morale.
An infamously tempestuous character even during the good times, Di Canio was eventually exiled from the squad after a public spat with Roeder during a match at West Brom and years of undermining the young coach.
“We’ve never known who was letting the leaks out but it’s happened from time to time,” Trevor Sinclair told talkSPORT. “I had a few suspects for who was giving information out.
“I think Di Canio used to feed the press a little bit at West Ham. It does happen.
“It’s usually a player that’s not having a good time, either he’s not in the team or he’s playing out of position or he’s not enjoying playing under the manager and they’ll have a confidant in the media to leak a few stories too.”
READ: ‘Too good to go down’: Unravelling the mystery of West Ham’s 2003 relegation
Dennis Wise
Leeds sunk into the third tier for the first time after suffering relegation from the Championship in 2006-07, only five years after the club had played in a Champions League semi-final.
With hindsight, appointing Dennis Wise as manager mid-season was never likely to save the ailing Whites but the pint-sized boss wasn’t helped when the line-up to face Crystal Palace in February 2007 was leaked to the opposition.
“One player gave my team to the opposition at my football club and I found that out,” a furious Wise said afterwards, even though Leeds won the match 2-1.
“It disappoints me immensely and I told the players before, and he won’t be playing for this football club again.”
Seventeen years later and the culprit remains unconfirmed.
Tony Pulis v James Beattie
Stoke City battled against the odds to establish themselves in the Premier League under Tony Pulis, but one dressing room leak caused a stir amongst the media and could easily have derailed the morale amongst the tight-knit squad.
After a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in December 2009, Pulis caused a stir by cancelling the squad’s Christmas party.
Naturally, the players reacted as if their manager had asked them to eat an excrement sandwich and James Beattie reportedly confronted Pulis as he left the showers.
Donning just a towel, the Welshman is believed to have headbutted Beattie before a small brawn ensued.
The altercation was later confirmed by club captain Ryan Shawcross, who was asked on Twitter: “What was it like seeing Pulis headbutt James Beattie naked?” to which he replied: “It was a spectacle.”
You don’t say?