Key events
An email has landed in my inbox from Stewart MacNeill, who says: “Clearly the fault lies with the owners and the hierarchy they appointed to carry out their wishes. Until they are replaced no manager will succeed.”
Amorim was INEOS’s first appointment, to be fair Stewart. But it has not gone well. Nor did the appointment of their first-choice director of football, Dan Ashworth, or the first major managerial decision they had to make (keeping Erik ten Hag after the 2024 FA Cup final only to sack him months later).
I’ll get to more of your emails shortly.
What next for Manchester United?
In the short-term Manchester United have announced that Darren Fletcher will take over on interim basis – he will be in the dugout when United take on Burnley at Turf Moor on Wednesday night.
Fletcher is unlikely be granted the permanent job, however, with the bookmakers currently putting Xavi, Oliver Glasner, Gareth Southgate and Enzo Maresca, among others, at the top of their odds lists.
Or was the writing on the wall at Grimsby in late August, tactics board, not watching the penalties, humiliating cup exit and all that?
Those comments after the Leeds game really spelled the end for Amorim.
I came here to be the manager of Manchester United – not to be the coach of Manchester United. That is clear. I know my name is not Tuchel, Mourinho or Conte but I’m the manager. It’s going to be like this for 18 months or until the board decide to change. I’m not going to quit, I will do my job until another guy is coming here to replace me.
So Amorim leaves Manchester United with a win ratio of less than 39 per cent. He had a record of 1.24 points per game in Premier League matches and lost more games than he won in 2025. It was a fairly miserable tenure.
It is astonishing then that he also leaves with United arguably at their strongest point since his appointment – with those off-field issues and tensions with the hierarchy behind the departures rather than just results. United actually lost just one of Amorim’s final eight games in charge and currently sit sixth in the Premier League, three points off fourth. These were his final five games in charge:
Here’s the story, via Jamie Jackson. Note United’s statement:
With Manchester United sitting sixth in the Premier League, the club’s leadership has reluctantly made the decision that it is the right time to make a change. This will give the team the best opportunity of the highest possible Premier League finish. The club would like to thank Ruben for his contribution to the club and wishes him well for the future.
Preamble
Good grief, Ruben Amorim has gone. It seems the combination of poor results, plus an increasingly strained relationship with the Manchester United hierarchy – most notably Jason Wilcox, the director of football, has brought about Amorim’s demise after 14 fairly miserable months as manager.
Those comments after United’s 1-1 draw at Leeds yesterday (Sunday) proved Amorim’s final undoing, with the Portuguese telling his colleagues in United’s recruitment department to “do their job”. United were unwilling to grant Amorim major funds to bolster their squad in this January window. On Friday Amorim had said: “I have the feeling that if we have to play a perfect 3-4-3 we need to spend a lot of money and need time. I’m starting to understand that is not going to happen.”
We will bring you all the fallout from this huge breaking news, go through where it went wrong for Amorim (how long have you got?!) and turn our attention to what comes next for Manchester United. Never a dull day, eh …
