Jose Mourinho left Manchester United's Trafford Training Centre on Tuesday morning by car after being sacked by Ed Woodard.
Woodward delivered the news to Mourinho personally at the club's AON Training Complex in a 9am meeting, and Standard Sport understands that the news came as a complete surprise to Mourinho.
Michael Carrick took charge of first-team training while Mourinho was given his marching orders, with Woodward issuing the 55-year-old Portuguese coach with a damning list of reasons why he had to go.
Mourinho's style of football, transfer misfires and the lack of development of youth players are said to be the key issues for the United hierarchy, who will now look to hire an external caretaker coach until the end of the season before seeking a permanent successor in the summer.
United will also look to hire a director of football in order to organise the club's haphazard transfer and contract strategy.
As for Mourinho, his future is unclear after his latest high-profile sacking. The Portuguese coach has now exited contracts early with Premier League sides on three different occasions - twice with Chelsea, and now with United.
The silver lining for Mourinho is that he is set to earn a £24million payoff from United, having only signed a new contract in January this year.
