Saturday 9 September 2017 12:30, UK
Louis van Gaal has hit out at his sacking as Manchester United manager, claiming the club "put my head in a noose and I was publicly placed on the gallows".
The Dutchman left United the day after guiding the club to an FA Cup triumph over Crystal Palace in the 2016 final at Wembley, with Jose Mourinho replacing him.
Van Gaal is unhappy with how he was treated by the club, who he believes courted Mourinho for the role after he was sacked in his second spell as Chelsea boss.
"United put my head in a noose and I was publicly placed on the gallows," he told the Daily Mirror in an exclusive interview.
"The pressure was enormous with my head in the noose and they went right behind my back.
"I think it was all orchestrated like a film and it was done very much behind my back right from January.
"My wife, Truus, told me that the attitude of the board had changed. Women have this intuition. They smell it.
"I denied it, even to my wife, because between me as a manager and the chief executive Ed Woodward, everything was running as normal."
Van Gaal believed he had the continued support of the board because Woodward had given him a three-year contract when he quit his post as Netherlands boss to succeed David Moyes, even though he only wanted a two-year deal.
United's desire to land Mourinho eventually became apparent, however, with speculation linking the Portuguese with the manager's job increasing once he left Stamford Bridge.
"Suddenly former players started to yap in the media that we were playing boring football and Mourinho's sacking made it very attractive for everyone to keep bashing me," he added.
"I do understand that choice of United to get Mourinho.
"I never wanted more than two years anyway. Man United wanted three years. Suddenly, Mourinho was out after one-and-a-half years of my contract and I knew United wanted him one day.
"They told me only after it was leaked out and it was the biggest disappointment of my life.
"United did not discuss this with me. If they had come to me with the Mourinho plan then I could have said 'okay, let's give it everything for the last six months, complete commitment to each other and the team and then Jose Mourinho can take over.'
"They could have saved the last year of my salary by doing that but after what happened I made them pay every penny."
Watch Manchester United v Everton on September 17. Coverage begins on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League at 3:30pm.
