Poll: Erik ten Hag Sack Watch & Next Manchester United Manager? Sacked. Ruben Amorim appointed.

[Robbo]

No, he wasn't given the medium term. He was given the short term and he simply managed to stay in place. Nearly all his signings were short term. The pressure on him was for short term success.

I disagree, 2 full seasons and lots of financial backing is more than fair in today's game. You aren't getting 3 full seasons at any supposed top club without showing signs of progression.

Back to Amorim...

Sporting Lisbon are demanding that Manchester United pay another £4million for the release of members of Rúben Amorim’s backroom staff before he can become the new manager at Old Trafford.

Rúben Amorim: Sporting want extra £4m to take coaches to Man United

Sporting confirm that Manchester United have expressed interest in triggering Rúben Amorim’s £8.3million release clause but manager insists ‘nothing’s decided’

www.thetimes.com

This would also waive his notice period. Seems fair enough to me. I'm hoping he can start after the Chelsea game, no reason to wait...

 

[Robbo]

Yep. Officially starts on week commencing the 11th then (I assume), they have Man City next week...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1851912180091777372

 

[Robbo]

There is going to be a lot of attention around Sporting v Man City on 5th November (Tuesday). I hope Pep doesn't batter him

Antony LWB feels like an obvious thing to try while we have no players there.

Joking aside, Antony did look good for Ajax in some Champions League games (against Amorim's Sporting, no less). I think there's a player in there and he's not as bad as people think... he does seem a bit of a weirdo though.

 

[Robbo]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1852319368647938329

United appoint Amorim as head coach

It's official! Read the club statement here...

www.manutd.com

 

[Robbo]

Interestingly he's been specifically appointed as a head coach, not the usual title of manager. More in line with how a lot of clubs are operating nowadays.

The media are reporting that he was always the plan since the summer, and as our interest in him became apparent a few hours after ETH was sacked, that is probably true.

It shows at least there was a clear train of thought from Berrada and Ashworth in terms of the coach they wanted, I don't think Tuchel & others were ever on the cards.

 

[Robbo]

I assume they wanted to give ETH another shot, but had Amorim as a contingency plan, as any sensible business would...

They dropped a huge clanger off the back of that FA Cup final though.

 

[Robbo]

Has there been any comment from ETH since his sacking? I've not seen or heard anything from him which seems a bit strange. Usually there's some sort of statement, even if it's only a token gesture 'I wish the club all the best....'.

RvN just said he's spoken to him and he's "hurt" but that's about it.

 

[Robbo]

Not just cup but they also sanctioned what £200m spend knowing that they had no faith in the manager? That's madness. Like I said before if they were giving him a chance they needed to allow him to use more than 60% of the players they just bought.

Souness (lol) called out Ineos saying they're clueless. Hard to disagree, to some extent anyway. Not sure why Ineos get so much positive press (do they own any media outlets?).

I don't think they're getting much positive press at all? They've been roundly vilified for sacking a quarter the Man Utd staff and effectively sacking Sir Alex... what they have done is appointed the likes of Dan Ashworth who is highly regarded within the game, something the Glazers failed to do.

It's still early days, appointing their own manager is a big moment.

 

[Robbo]

Yep, nice statement, hope he can go elsewhere and do well.

 

[Robbo]

So Amorim wanted to stay at Sporting till the end of the season but Utd said now or never. Feel sorry for him tbh, can't help but feel it's the wrong decision for him, and I say that as a United fan.

Might as well start counting down the days till him getting sacked stories start after the poor performances continue as expected.

The bar is now set very low, all he’s got to do is start working towards a cohesive playing style for the team. I don’t think anyone expects a major change overnight, although ETH was so bad that people seem to think the manager doesn’t make much difference: not true. Look at the change when Solskjaer took over. We’ve got people saying the team is no better than 14th…

If Aston Villa went to play Real Madrid tomorrow, look at their squads, but you’d give them a decent chance of getting something. That’s down to the manager and the coaching.

We don’t know what’ll happen but let’s look at the facts, we’ve just got rid of a seriously underperforming manager for a highly rated one who seems to have a completely different approach. It might just work…

I think our fans are extremely patient. Last season was utterly dire yet the majority wanted ETH to stay after the FA Cup final. I knew things wouldn’t change, he just seemed clueless to me - but even I was positive at the start of the season, for a couple of weeks anyway

 

[Robbo]

For all we know, Berrada and Ashworth are building an entire strategy just to fit Amorim, but they've brought plans forward.

There are definitely plenty of reasons to be concerned around INEOS and everything that's going on, but equally there should be optimism. Omar Berrada knows the inner workings of Man City and everything they've built, and Dan Ashworth knows English football as well as anyone in his sort of role.

I think Amorim will need to adjust his tactics a bit until the squad has seen further changes, he effectively has 3 centre backs and one holding player ahead of them, everyone else goes on the attack. Should be entertaining but there will definitely be issues with counter attacks.

 

[Robbo]

Ruud van Nistelrooy: Man Utd players want club legend to remain at Old Trafford under Ruben Amorim

Man Utd legend Ruud van Nistelrooy returned to the club in a coaching capacity in July 2024 and is in charge at Old Trafford on an interim basis until Ruben Amorim takes over as Erik ten Hags successor on November 11

www.skysports.com

The players are in no position to be making requests or demands. I don't have an issue with him being kept on but if Amorim doesn't want him there, that has to be the decision.

 

[Robbo]

I think two of the staff he's bringing are his assistants, so they'd be assistant manager(s). At best RvN would be able to stay as an attacking coach, but I don't see him wanting that. I think he's got the profile to go for a manager role somewhere.

My feeling is that we should be avoiding keeping anyone out of sentimentality, the ex-player approach to things hasn't worked at all. They need to rip everything up and effectively start again.

There's a balance to be had as they'll need to fully back Amorim and build his team, but it needs to fit the long term profile of the club as well - so we don't end up with a load of ex Sporting players... two or three is fine I guess.

 

[Robbo]

Brief interview with Amorim today for anyone interested:

 

[Robbo]

ETH was seriously lacking in charisma, his English didn't seem that great either.

Everyone regresses once they spend enough time at OT. Let's hope he doesn't...

If he's the 'right man' then he won't. You need an unshakable self-assuredness to even stand a chance in this job. It'll take something special, let's hope he's it...

 

[Robbo]

I thought it was self explanatory. You cannot judge a manager by their charisma.

It certainly plays a big part. Ancelotti has an aura about him (maybe not at Everton ). Look at the perceived 'elite' managers over the past 20 years or so, I'd say the majority are what you'd call charismatic. I think at Man Utd it's even more important as you need to be able to keep the terrible English media under control.

ETH wasn't judged on this anyway, but it didn't help. His coaching didn't work, tactics didn't work, recruitment was a disaster, etc etc.

 

[Robbo]

Yeah, that was just embarrassing from that Gary Cotterill guy.

He's insufferable.

You can already see the articles tomorrow if City beat Sporting

Amorim mentioned that himself, and said if he wins then he'll instantly be hailed as the second coming of Sir Alex

 

[Robbo]

Eth was that though and the fans called him delusional.

Sir Alex was that and he was called arrogant.

José was that and he was called boring and arrogant and delusional.

So are you sure the new guy is going to be any different?

ETH didn't seem assured at all. He looked confused a lot of the time, at least over the past year. He became a bit delusional more recently. His stuttering communication style absolutely did not help. Pochettino was easier to listen to back in his translator days!

I'm not sure of anything, but I am hopeful. As everyone should be, that's the nature of football.

People keep saying other managers have failed, but as I've said before -

Moyes was a ridiculous appointment and that one is on SAF's head.

LvG was well past his best and losing the plot a bit.

Jose, well, the same as above really.

ETH was the first measured appointment, but he suffered due to poor transfers initially - remember the Frenkie de Jong saga? He was only partly to blame for that, but then it just continued downhill from there as unfortunately he wasn't up to the job - for whatever reason.

Amorim seems to have some of that slightly endearing Pochettino style vulnerability, but he's also apparently very dogmatic and will expect the players to run through walls for him - could be some issues there.

You forgot LVG, boring.

LvG is a good example of someone who is assured and arrogant, but unfortunately the style of football he wanted was terrible.

 

[Robbo]

He was when he started.

I recall Ole got stick also for being too positive and at odds with reality. Also got accused of having no plan at times.

It's almost as if the club is rotten and it chews people up.

Yes he was better early on, but still a bit confused sounding in general.

Ole was a positive man manager but limited beyond that. He did well considering his limited ability, but should never have been given the job full time.

I think it's overly simplistic to just say it's 'rotten' - a lot has changed recently, largely for the better. There's no magic involved here, it's just a case of employing better people (like Ashworth) and building a better squad.

In the end if the club is doing badly people will make up things that are wrong with the manager's behaviour or personality that they wouldn't say if the club was doing well.

It's generally accepted that ETH was not the best communicator with the fans or the media, but was much better in private. Though seemingly not with the players as they didn't have a clue what he wanted. Nothing is being "made up".

 

[Robbo]

I agree that it's changed, whether it's changed for the better or not, that remains to be seen.

Delaying the manager sacking and hiring a manager that wasn't good enough for Liverpool (and Chelsea?) suggests still lessons to be learned.

I think it's fair to have more confidence in Omar Berrada and Dan Ashworth than Richard Arnold and John Murtough. The Glazers taking a step back can't really hurt either. But yes, there are no guarantees of course.

Liverpool went with Slot instead as they felt he was a better fit for the squad, he certainly wasn't more highly rated than Amorim. We don't know about the other reasons. I don't think he was linked with Chelsea at all? He spoke to West Ham about their job but it didn't materialise for whatever reason.