It was part of a 20-minute exchange that was typical of the kind of magnetism Mourinho still holds.

In praising United for keeping faith with current manager Erik ten Hag during the present difficult spell, Mourinho managed to refer back to his own dismissal in December 2018 after two and a half seasons in charge.

“I wish the best to Man United since the moment I left,” he said.

“I left with a good feeling to the club and with a good feeling to the fans. If things are not going amazingly well for them it’s not something that makes me happy.

“It doesn’t make sense for me to be thinking about what happened and what didn’t happen.

“What happened for sure, because it’s very objective, is they keep faith in the coach, they support the coach, the coach is staying season after season and that means stability, it means trust, and they are giving him conditions to keep developing his job. That was different in relation to me.”

Mourinho said he was unaware he has never previously lost a home game against United.

He pointed out his previous encounters with them were with big clubs and said Fenerbahce would require the help of 35,000 home supporters in the stadium to stand any chance of victory.

“We are going to try and we can do it, but there is a gap,” Mourinho said.

Mourinho also offered his view on Sir Alex Ferguson, who will lose his ambassadorial role at United at the end of the season.

The pair have got on ever since Mourinho arrived at Chelsea in 2004 and despite his own experience at Old Trafford, it is clear Mourinho’s affection for the 82-year-old remains.

“He is amazing, incredible,” said Mourinho. “When my Netflix documentary comes out, you will know why I have so much respect.

“I don’t know the situation, it doesn’t matter why or what. He has the love and respect of every Man United fan around the world. That is more important than the ambassadorial role or money he doesn’t need.”

Mourinho is already encountering some criticism, with Fenerbahce eight points adrift of old rivals Galatasaray in the Turkish league table.

He said he would take the advice of local journalists before finalising his line-up for the United game.

However, after two spells with Chelsea, plus his time with United and Tottenham, it appears the 61-year-old is not finished with the Premier League just yet.

“Sooner or later they [Manchester United] will succeed,” he said. “Hopefully it is sooner, hopefully before one day I go back to the Premier League and they become my opponent.

“At this moment they are just my opponents for one match.”

He hasn’t found the end zone much, but otherwise, Raiders first-round pick Brock Bowers is on course to have the best season ever for a rookie tight end.

Bowers, the 13th overall pick in this year’s draft, leads all NFL tight ends in catches (47) and yards (477), though he has only one touchdown in his first seven NFL games. Those prolific numbers put him on pace to shatter the league’s rookie tight end records. He’s in line to get 1,158 receiving yards, breaking Mike Ditka’s record of 1,076, set way back in 1960, and he’s on pace for 114 catches, which would obliterate the rookie record of 86 set last year by the Lions‘ Sam LaPorta.

The high volume of passes headed Bowers’ way makes him a rare tight end who is truly his offense’s No. 1 target, especially since the Raiders traded receiver Davante Adams to the Jets. Across the league, only three other tight ends are leading their teams in catches and receptions: the 49ers‘ George Kittle, the Patriots‘ Hunter Henry and the Cardinals‘ Trey McBride.

Bowers isn’t just leading all NFL tight ends in catches and receiving yards, he has 102 more yards and 13 more catches than Kittle, who is second in both. He’s in great shape to make the Pro Bowl as a rookie — and would be the third rookie tight end in four years to do so, following LaPorta last year and Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts in 2021. What’s wild is there was just one rookie tight end who made the Pro Bowl in the 30 years before that — the Giants‘ Jeremy Shockey in 2002.

Besides Bowers, the 2024 class of rookie tight ends is incredibly unremarkable. The rest of them combined have 544 yards, barely more than Bowers has himself. They collectively have three touchdown catches, well down from the past two years, when rookie tight ends had 26 touchdown catches each season.

More killer Bs: Beanie Bishop Jr. picks A-Rod twice

The jewel of this year’s undrafted rookies is easily Steelers nickel corner Beanie Bishop, who has already played 294 defensive snaps for Pittsburgh, more than double any other undrafted player in the league. On Sunday, Bishop did more than just play — he made plays, getting a pair of interceptions off Aaron Rodgers in the Steelers’ prime-time win over the Jets.

“He’s a Hall of Fame quarterback,” Bishop said after the game. “Got a lot of respect for that guy and just to be able to get not one but two of them off of him is crazy.”

Bishop is another case of NFL teams putting too much value on size. He’s just 5-foot-9 and 180 and is 24 as a rookie, which can drop a player on draft boards. He had a long path to the NFL, with four years at Western Kentucky, one at Minnesota, then a breakout 2023 at West Virginia, getting a team-best four interceptions and leading the nation in passes defended. The Steelers got him for just a $25,000 signing bonus, which is small even by undrafted standards.

How rare is it to pick off Rodgers twice in a game? It’s happened just four other times in his 20-year NFL career. The Saints‘ Jason David did it in 2008, the Bills‘ Bacarri Rambo in 2014, the Giants’ Janoris Jenkins in 2016 and the Lions’ Kerby Joseph in 2022.

The statistical oddity of the week is that two undrafted rookies — Bishop and the Rams‘ Jaylen McCollough — each had two interceptions on the same day. That’s a first in NFL history. If you include first-year players, it’s happened once before, in 1960, when the Boston Patriots’ Gino Cappelletti and the New York Titans’ Fred Julian both did it on Oct. 16. McCollough is now tied for the rookie lead with three interceptions for the year, putting him even with Texans safety Calen Bullock.

History of 1-2 rookie QB showdown

Jayden Daniels‘ health status due to a rib injury could jeopardize a much-awaited showdown of the draft’s top two picks as Daniels and the Bears‘ Caleb Williams are scheduled to meet on Sunday.

These 1-2 showdowns aren’t always indicative of future success. A year ago, Bryce Young and the Panthers beat C.J. Stroud and the Texans in a Week 7 meeting, with Young throwing for 235 yards and a touchdown and Stroud throwing for 140. In 2021, Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars lost to Zach Wilson and the Jets in another 1-2 meeting, with Wilson rushing for 91 yards and a score and throwing for 102 and another score.

Most lopsided such head-to-head rookie game in recent years? In 2015, the Bucs‘ Jameis Winston and the Titans‘ Marcus Mariota opened their careers against each other. Mariota went 13-for-15 with four touchdowns in a 42-14 rout that was 35-7 at halftime, while Winston had two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Rookie tidbits

In the first six weeks of this season, no team got more than 287 offensive and defensive snaps from rookies in a game, but in Week 7, four teams had at least that many. The Saints had 317, Rams had 312, the Giants had 292 and the Chargers had 287. … This year’s rookie running back class has shown flashes, but it’s telling that the top two rookie rushers in Week 7 were quarterbacks: Denver’s Bo Nix (75) and Daniels (50). And Daniels played only 10 snaps before his injury. … Undrafted rookie with the most offensive snaps? Saints receiver Mason Tipton, a Yale grad who has 85 receiving yards on the season. … It’s not as telling as sacks, but in terms of official quarterback hits, the leading rookie is the Rams’ Jared Verse, with nine. Second is the Bucs’ Chris Braswell, a second-round pick who has six on the season.

Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

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Speaking outside the Caledonian Stadium on Wednesday, former Dundee United, Rangers, Everton and Newcastle forward Ferguson said he and two of his coaches had been let go.

Earlier, Ferguson said he had “always been against administration”.

Players and other staff are expected to hear if they still have jobs on Thursday.

Administrators BDO said they were working to “secure the long term future” of the Highland club by attempting to find new owners.

If that fails, assets could be sold and the money raised distributed to creditors.

Investor Alan Savage, a former club chairman, told BBC Scotland News he would give it his “best shot” to help save the club.

Asked if he was confident it could be saved, he replied: “Of course I am, yeah.”

Savage pledged to help anyone who lost their job to find a new one.

Asked about his own role if the club survives, he said: “It’s a step-by-step process and until we’ve gone through those steps it’s a bit early to say.”

Video Details

Tottenham Hotspur have been fined £20,000 by the Football Association after accepting a charge of failing to control their players during the 4-1 win against West Ham United.

Both clubs were charged on Tuesday for failing to ensure their players “didn’t behave in an improper and/or provocative and/or violent way”.

Spurs admitted the charge and accepted the fine for the scuffle in last weekend’s game.

The altercation occurred after Mohamed Kudus kicked Spurs defender Micky van de Ven then pushed the Netherlands defender and midfielder Pape Matar Sarr in the face.

The Ghana winger was initially shown a yellow card but it was upgraded to a red after a review by the video assistant referee.

The 24-year-old will serve a three-match ban for his dismissal.

He was separately charged on Tuesday for improper conduct for an incident “after the offence he was sent off for”.

The former Ajax winger could serve an extra punishment on top of the three-game suspension if found guilty.

West Ham and Kudus have until Thursday to provide their responses.

Newcastle’s long, barren run without lifting a trophy is well publicised, with them last picking up major domestic silverware almost 70 years ago when they won the 1955 FA Cup final against Manchester City.

Gordon joined Newcastle from Everton for £45m in January 2023 and the team had the opportunity of glory just a month later but were beaten in the Carabao Cup final by Manchester United.

He said he had been “hurt”, external by the manner of his exit from Goodison Park after the Toffees “failed to thank” him for his services and initially struggled for form in the North East, failing to score in any of his 16 Premier League appearances during the remainder of that season.

Howe’s side, though, made a return to the Champions League with a fourth-placed finish, allowing Gordon to showcase his talent in Europe’s elite club competition.

They may have finished bottom of their group but the season was a success on an individual level for the player, who scored 12 goals and provided 11 assists in 48 games.

Since joining Newcastle from Everton, his goal and assist contributions have increased from 0.27 to 0.44 per game, while the number of chances he has created every 90 minutes has improved from 1.25 to 1.65.

Following the announcement of the new deal, boss Howe said Gordon had “grown as a player and as a person” during his time at Newcastle and he has continued to “prove just how good he is on the biggest stage”.

But despite a stellar showing in his first full season on Tyneside, his future seemed to be in real doubt in the summer as it looked at one stage that Gordon may leave to help the club balance its financial position.

Newcastle’s issues with Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) meant they needed to sell before the 30 June deadline to comply. With the cut-off point fast approaching, the club found themselves needing to consider offers for one of Isak, Guimaraes or Gordon.

A boyhood Liverpool supporter – despite coming through at Everton – Gordon’s dream move was on the cards when Newcastle offered the Reds a price of £70m, as well as taking defender Jarell Quansah the other way in a separate deal.

But Liverpool turned down the proposal and Newcastle ended up doing business with Nottingham Forest instead, selling 21-year-old midfielder Elliot Anderson for £35m, and allowing winger Yankuba Minteh, 20, to go to Brighton for £30m.

Though they lost two potential stars of the future, the deals meant they could make up their PSR shortfall and, rather importantly, keep Gordon too.