Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal insists he did not offer to resign after last week’s loss to Southampton.
Reports this week claimed the under-pressure Dutchman was talked out of standing down at Old Trafford following a meeting with chairman Ed Woodward.
Van Gaal claims that is not true and turned his anger on the media for how they have portrayed him during United’s troubled run of form.
Asked if he had offered to quit, the 64-year-old said at a press conference: “I don’t think that I have ever mentioned it.
“I think you make your own stories and then I have to answer about your stories, and I am not doing that because it is awful and horrible that you can write that and then I have to answer the questions of your story.
“I am very concerned people are believing what you are writing. I receive a lot of calls and SMSs, but it is this world that you can write what you want and you don’t have to verify anything.
“It is now the third time already that I have been sacked, and I am still sitting here for you.”
United were beaten 1-0 by Saints at Old Trafford and left the field to loud booing. Van Gaal is now under heavy pressure with his side having won just twice in 10 Premier League games and sitting in fifth, five points below the Champions League places.
Their slow style of play has been criticised all season and they have not scored in the first half of their last 11 home games.
Van Gaal is certain to face intense scrutiny as his side face a tricky trip to Championship high-flyers Derby tonight and he expects people to report his job is on the line once again.
The former Holland, Bayern Munich and Barcelona boss said: “When you lose it is more worse and I predicted already, before the game against Southampton, that I cannot lose any more because I am then condemned for the fourth time that I have been sacked. Maybe then you have written the truth, because sometimes it happens.”
Asked if he was facing a must-win game at the iPro Stadium, Van Gaal said: “You have to win, because then you are out of the FA Cup.”
Van Gaal is pleased to have the backing of Woodward but admits that does bring pressure.
He said: “It is fantastic, of course. That gives you a lot of pressure because when the board has such confidence in you then the pressure is much higher than when they say it is your last game, or something like that, because then the confidence is not so high, and you can fight against it.”
Fixtures – FA Cup fourth round
Today: 20.55 Derby vs Manchester United.
Tomorrow: 13.45 Colchester vs Tottenham. 16.00 Arsenal vs Burnley; Aston Villa vs Manchester City; Bolton vs Leeds United; Bury vs Hull City; Crystal Palace vs Stoke; Nottm Forest vs Watford; Oxford vs Blackburn; Portsmouth vs Bournemouth; Reading vs Walsall; Shrewsbury vs Sheffield Wed.; West Brom vs Peterborough; 18.30 Liverpool vs West Ham.
Sunday: 14.30 Carlisle vs Everton; 17.00 MK Dons vs Chelsea.