Man Utd chiefs sacked Ruben Amorim as reality behind embarrassing mess painful to swallow
OPINION: Ruben Amorim lost his job at Manchester United but those responsible for failure after failure at Old Trafford remain untouchable and unaccountable
There was a reason Ruben Amorim packed his bags and walked out of Manchester United’s training ground with a smile on his face.
He had lost his job. But the Portuguese had also lost that huge weight that had been hanging around his shoulders. That burden that comes with managing a team which belongs to one of the most dysfunctional football clubs on the planet.
A brutal fact the regime of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS have only served to enhance since purchasing a stake in the club almost two years ago. Managers like Amorim lose their jobs when things are not going well. That’s just how it is in football.
Meanwhile, those in positions of power and influence above are allowed to make failings of their own – but remain untouchable. Which brings us to Omar Berrada (chief executive) and Jason Wilcox (director of football).
In the last 18 months, these two bright sparks allowed Erik Ten Hag to spend £300m on new signings, then sacked him a few months later.
Ratcliffe’s regime hired and fired Dan Ashworth as sporting director in the space of just six months, because his advice wasn’t welcomed.
Amorim was then appointed, after Ratcliffe had tried but failed to get Thomas Tuchel. A manager who favoured a 3-4-3 system, but wasn’t handed the talent to make it work. So he was sacked after 14 months.
And don’t get United supporters started on the powers that be signing-off deals for the likes of Joshua Zirkzee, Manuel Ugarte and Benjamin Sesko. The millions United have wasted on compensation and incompetent players is staggering.
Something made even more painful to swallow considering it’s happened at a time when Ratcliffe decided to make hundreds of employees redundant to reduce costs.
And where has all this left the supposed ‘biggest club in the world?’ In the position of seeing those Old Trafford kingmakers and silent assassins asking one of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or Michael Carrick to take charge on a caretaker basis.
Solskjaer had his chance to manage United and wasn’t good enough. While Carrick, who replaced Solskjaer on a caretaker basis for three games when the Norwegian was sacked in November 2021, couldn’t cut the mustard as boss of Championship side Middlesbrough.
You genuinely couldn’t make it up. How the likes of Wilcox and Berrada are allowed to make such seismic decisions without any offer of explanation or recourse, is beyond baffling.
Make no mistake. Amorim wasn’t sacked because of results, like losing at Grimsby Town or failing to beat Wolves and West Ham.
He was sacked after refusing to become a puppet for Wilcox, Berrada and Ratcliffe. Which is why he called them all out in his rant at Elland Road.
And if that doesn’t make people realise the manager isn’t the problem at United – then there will never be a chance of the club getting back to the kind of success it believes it is entitled to.
