Manchester United players are not happy as Jose Mourinho ‘effectively cancels Christmas’

Spare a thought this Christmas for the poor millionaires at Old Trafford who will be jogging around a bit.

While you're busy watching family members open presents that you've bought by stretching your paycheck more thinly than you thought possible, Manchester United's players will have to get into their sports cars and drive to the state of the art stadium to put some work in at 4.30pm. It's rather difficult to feel too sorry for the United squad who, according to the Sun, will not be allowed Christmas afternoon off as manager Jose Mourinho wants to work his players in order to improve upon his side's results in the second half of the season. But who you might feel sorry for is the non-playing, and therefore much less well-off, staff who have also been instructed to show up at Old Trafford, rather than United's training ground, on Christmas afternoon. In the Alex Ferguson era, a lot of employees were usually allowed to stay at home on Christmas while the players took to Carrington to get a sweat on but there will be no such leniency by Mourinho. United ended their string of 1-1 draws in the league with a victory over Spurs on Sunday afternoon but Mourinho will want more consistent collections of three points if he is to secure a place in the top four. The Red Devils find themselves in sixth place in the Premier League table after 15 games, 13 points behind leaders Chelsea, and have an uphill task facing them. And unlike his predecessor Louis van Gaal, Mourinho will not grant his players a rest day on December 25. Van Gaal was of the opinion that his players would come back refreshed if they had the chance to relax with their families on Christmas day. Most Premier League teams do insist upon Christmas morning training ahead of the match on St. Stephen's Day but training at 4.30pm, what Mourinho is insisting on, is not typical. "Everyone is seriously pissed off. They've never heard anything like it - not even under Fergie," a source told the Sun. "All the staff are used to coming in and sorting training out at Carrington but having it at Old Trafford adds a whole new level of organisation and brings more staff in. "Jose's had a face like thunder at the training ground for most of the season and is clearly not happy with results. "Some staff will even have to stay later on to sort out the pitch and stadium for the next day's home game. He's effectively cancelled Christmas." United host Sunderland on December 26 and they'd better win, or God only knows what Mourinho will do next Christmas. Diarmuid Connolly makes his long overdue GAA Hour debut and talks to Colm Parkinson about everything from the black card to his rivalry with Lee Keegan and how he honed the ability to kick accurately with either foot.