LONDON: Ruben Amorim’s turbulent 14-month tenure as Manchester United manager ended abruptly on Monday when he was sacked a day after voicing a passionate defence of his role and vowed not to quit in the wake of a disappointing 1-1 draw with Leeds United.
The dismissal of the Portuguese follows growing tensions between Amorim and the Old Trafford hierarchy, including director of football Jason Wilcox, in recent days. Current under-18s coach Darren Fletcher will take charge of the team against struggling Burnley on Wednesday.
“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 said in a statement.
The Portuguese coach, 40, took over from Erik ten Hag in November 2024, ending his first season with the club 15th in the Premier League — their worst placing since they were relegated in 1974 — and losing to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final.
This season they are sixth after 20 games — 17 behind leaders Arsenal — having won three of their last 11 matches and the Leeds result triggered a fiery outburst in a press conference from the usually mild-mannered and refreshingly honest coach.
He bristled at questions about his job security, delivering a defiant message that he came to United as a manager with full authority and not merely a coach taking orders.
The Portuguese told the scouting department and Wilcox “to do their job” during a blockbuster end to a post-match press conference that raised major doubts over his future.
Amorim repeatedly suggested to the media that he would leave when his contract expired in 18 months’ time. But reports said United’s decision to axe their manager was due to the lack of evolution and progress during his 14-month tenure rather than a power struggle.
It is a dismal end to the reign of Amorim, who won just 25 of his 63 games at the helm in all competitions.
In the Premier League he had the worst win ratio (32 percent), the worst goals-conceded-per-game ratio (1.53) and the lowest clean-sheet ratio (15 percent) of any United manager.
Amorim has been hit by injuries and a number of players are on Africa Cup of Nations duty but he has been criticised for sticking rigidly to his preferred 3-4-3 formation despite evidence it was not the best fit for his players.
The club’s hierarchy will now set about trying to find a big-name operator who can bring back the glory days of the Alex Ferguson era.
Since Ferguson retired in 2013, United have turned to David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick and Ten Hag with very limited success and it is now 13 years since they won the last of their 20 league titles.
Amorim’s sacking comes four days after Chelsea’s Enzo Maresca also departed after an apparent fallout with his club’s leadership.
Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2026