The Special One is finding it increasingly difficult to win over the Inter fans after their Champions League elimination to Manchester United, as banners appeared at the Pinetina training ground urging him to leave Italy.

“A Coach can lose everything except his professional dignity. I never lose that. Intelligent people need only a couple of words to understand it.

“To win in the Champions League we need a united project agreed by everyone, including me, [directors Marco] Branca and [Lele] Oriali and the club. This has to be our philosophy.”

This week he was even accused of punching a Manchester United fan as he left Old Trafford, something the club has stringently denied. “Mourinho sells a lot of papers,” he smiled.

“I continue to maintain that I am very satisfied with the work my team did at Old Trafford. I would like to point out, though, that [Nemanja] Vidic is one of the best in the world at set plays and on Wednesday night, choosing Patrick to mark him I realise it was a very difficult task.”

Yet Mourinho has dropped Vieira from the squad to face Fiorentina on Sunday evening, declaring it “a tactical decision.”

He joins the group of non-injured players frozen out for poor performances, such as Julio Cruz and Victor Obinna.

Ivan Cordoba adds to the injury list with Nicolas Burdisso, Marco Materazzi and Luis Jimenez.

Jose prefers to look ahead to Inter’s Serie A form, as they have a seven-point lead over Juventus and are 12 ahead of Milan.

“Our situation is different to that of Milan, whose season is already over by March,” sniped Mourinho.

“I do not fear a psychological knock-on effect of our European exit, as I have faith in the squad. Obviously our elimination hurts and we cannot talk of a moral victory, as that is the language of losers.

“Our frustration must be channelled into positive energy. We have a very important title to secure, as it would be Inter’s 17th, matching Milan’s record.”

On Sunday evening the Nerazzurri continue their march against Fiorentina at San Siro.

“Fiorentina play very well and are fighting for a Champions League place because they have quality, a talented tactician and are very organised.

“I think that this is the perfect game for Inter, because we know we are facing a side that can cause us problems. This is what we need right now – a difficult match against a quality opponent.”

Inter squad: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni; Maxwell, Maicon, Rivas, Samuel, Chivu, Santon; Zanetti, Stankovic, Figo, Cambiasso, Muntari, Mancini, Bolzoni; Ibrahimovic, Adriano, Crespo, Balotelli.