After drawing with Leeds at home yesterday, Ruben Amorim told the press, “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 Thomas Tuchel, it’s not Antonio Conte, it’s not Jose Mourinho, but I am the manager of Manchester United, and it’s going to be like this for 18 months or when the Board decide to change. That was my point and I want to finish with that. I’m not going to quit. I will do my job until other guy is coming here to replace.”

Ruben Amorim was sacked today and Darren Fletcher will serve as caretaker manager.

Only last week Enzo Mareska was sacked as Chelsea’s coach for butting heads with ownership, now Amorim has suffered the same fate. 

He is likely to pick up around 15 million pounds in compensation pay as he goes through the door.

Amorim joined Manchester United in November 2024 from Sporting Lisbon. He was seen as  a young manager with new techniques able to return the Red Devils to glory. Last season Manchester United finished 15th in the EPL, their worst season in 50 years.

He is now the tenth person in charge of the team since Sir Alex Ferguson left in a blaze of glory in 2013. Since Sir Alex Ferguson’s tenure, Manchester United has struggled.

Amorim leaves with Manchester United in sixth position in the EPL.

A club statement read: “Ruben Amorim has departed his role as head coach of Manchester United. The club would like to thank Ruben for his contribution to the club and wishes him well for the future.”

Amorim wanted more players in the January window and a say in whom was brought in, however Manchester United is a bit cash strapped right now. The Portuguese wanted supreme authority but since Ineos came on board as part owner, 250 million pounds has been spent on players for Amorim and still Manchester United flounders.

It is believed that Sir Jim Ratcliffe had enough and did not favour Amorim’s 3-4-3 system. Amorim was inflexible on this formation and it hasn’t paid dividends.

Manchester United may well approach Jurgen Klopp to come on board and bring success. This would be a spectacular return to English football making the German the only man to manage both Liverpool and Manchester United.

Amorim made the mistake of beating his chest at the hierarchy without winning on a regular basis. He liked to play with three centre backs with teams finding it easy to play against United when they employ that system.

In October Sir Ratcliffe said of Amorim, “He needs to demonstrate that he is a great coach over three years. I would give him three years because football is not overnight. If you look at Arteta, he had a miserable time in the first couple of years.”

The writing was on the wall for Amorim after his comments on Sunday. He was appointed as Head Coach and the bosses at Manchester United including the Board didn’t take too kindly to him redefining his role at the club.