Gary Neville: Manchester United 'Rotten to the Core' Amid Jose Mourinho Rumours

Manchester United's decision-making has been branded as "rotten to the core" by club legend Gary Neville following reports manager Jose Mourinho will be imminently sacked.

The Mirror's David McDonnell reported on Friday that Mourinho would be fired after his side play Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday regardless of the result.

Neville appeared on Sky Sports' Friday Night Football, and in light of the report, presenter Kelly Cates asked whether sacking Mourinho would be the right course of action, prompting a lengthy tirade from the former United star:

He said (h/t the Mirror's Mark Jones): "What you have to do is make sure you operate in the right manner, and I have to say in this moment in time, there is something rotten to the core of the decisions that have been made in last four or five years, and it has to be coming from the top."

Neville revealed his anger that the media knew the fate of Mourinho's predecessors, David Moyes and Louis van Gaal, before they did.

He added: "I'm furious as I sit here thinking that there's a report that's broken out. Journalists don't break stories of this nature unless they're absolutely certain. I hope it's not true, but if it is true, I think it's an absolute disgrace."

The 43-year-old also took issue with the player power on display at Old Trafford: "The dressing room is leading what's happening. The tail is wagging the dog at the football club. Get some control back. Get some leadership."

Neville also criticised the United hierarchy: "The people in the boardroom at this moment in time, if you look at who has overseen the football operation, are nowhere near good enough, not qualified. They're playing Football Manager with the biggest club in the world. Stop it."

BBC Sport's Dan Roan offered a contrasting report on Mourinho's immediate future:

BBC Sport's Simon Stone and Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News believe the club should clarify the situation:

Neville also revealed his hope that Mourinho would be allowed to remain at the club and backed him as "one of the best managers in the world," but he believes under the current operation at Old Trafford "any manager would struggle."

Mourinho is far from blameless for United's situation, which has seen them fail to win their past four matches.

They are already nine points behind Manchester City and Liverpool, and Mourinho isn't getting nearly as much out of his players as he could be.

As Neville noted, though, it's clear there are a multitude of problems behind the scenes at Old Trafford beyond his control as well, meaning he has not given him the platform for success he would have hoped for when he joined United in 2016.

Failure to beat Newcastle at home on Saturday would be another damning blow for Mourinho and the powers that be at United, but the repercussions would likely be much more significant for the former than the latter.