Ruben Amorim is under pressure again following a disappointing draw against West Ham in the Premier League.
‘Best in class’ was the buzzword used by Sir Jim Ratcliffe in several interviews during his courtship of Manchester United. Ratcliffe was adamant that only the best would be good enough, from boardroom hires to recruitment, to restore United to former glories. That plan is currently not working.
There were boos at Old Trafford following the final whistle against West Ham, another disappointing result that has led many fans to suggest Ruben Amorim should face the axe. Wolves is a must-win for Amorim and the next few weeks will decide his future. United have an incredibly kind run of fixtures and Amorim should bite the bullet if he cannot string together a run of results.
Amorim was Omar Berrada’s appointment. Jason Wilcox has been the driving force behind recruitment since Ratcliffe’s investment. It would reflect badly on United’s chiefs if they do decide to sack Amorim. Berrada and Wilcox were supposedly ‘best in class’ hires, but they will be sweating if Amorim is kicked out of the classroom because the headteacher will demand answers from his staff.
Sacking Amorim would cost around £10million. That would be a major waste of cash, without mentioning that United paid £9.2m to buy Amorim out of his Sporting Lisbon contract. If Amorim departed, Ratcliffe would be frustrated at the time United have wasted. He is a man in a hurry and wants to win the league by 2028, in line with the club’s 150th anniversary, so sacking Amorim would set the Ineos project back, but there is no point in staying on a train heading in the wrong direction.
The Amorim train has not yet derailed, but there is a deep concern about the team’s inconsistency and failure to take presentable chances they are handed to climb the Premier League table. The fascinating interview with Wilcox in September suggests he is aware there could be consequences for boardroom members, including himself, if the decision is made to sack Amorim.
After the Manchester derby defeat, Wilcox spoke at an event at Old Trafford for ex-players and it was illuminating to hear him speak about his challenging start to working at United. YouTube channel Man Utd The Religion recorded the interview.
“It has been a rollercoaster,” said Wilcox. “I came in last April, around 18 months ago, and it’s been a real challenge, I can’t lie. I thought the club was in a much better place than it was. We had no football identity, we lacked alignment between ownership, the CEO, football and the academy.
“And we’ve just been working so hard behind the scenes. There’s been a lot of work that’s gone on to change the staff. I know in the media, there’s an awful lot of coverage around the redundancies.
“But the football club needed to go through a period of transformation, without a doubt. Forget the redundancies. The whole structure of Manchester United needed to change… I would have done it from a sporting side. I did the same at Southampton, at Man City.
“It’s important we have a leaner workforce that provides accountability and responsibility for people. It’s really sad to see people lose their jobs, but it needed to be done.”
He continued: “Now we’ve got a platform to rebuild. I didn’t realise how big this club was, even though I’ve competed against this club as a player and as a coach. This club is a wonderful club.
“I just pray we get the opportunity to turn it around. I really feel it’s not ‘will we win again’, I think it’s ‘when will we win again’. It’s going to take time and it’s not a quick fix, especially now with the regulations.
“We needed to change the playing squad. We’ve made some really good additions this summer. Sometimes taking players out of the squad is as important as the players you bring in.
“We have to bring back the culture and respect back to Man United, whether you work for us, or play against us, you feel like you’re part of something special. I’m extremely proud, I’m extremely privileged, but I am extremely frustrated as well because we can’t fix it quickly enough.”
The positions of Wilcox and Berrada should not be immune from scrutiny in this mess.
2025-12-06 07:00:00
