Man Utd fans can't trust INEOS after Amorim - A real reckoning is needed

Paul Macdonald

• Updated: 5 Jan 2026 18:52 GMT
• 5 min read

Analysis

If you are a Manchester United fan, you have to ask yourself - what the hell are these people doing?

Ruben Amorim’s exit on Monday following a bizarre press conference in the aftermath of the draw at Leeds was merely the full stop at the end of yet another misguided managerial appointment at the most dysfunctional big club in the world.

The Portuguese had been asking for this with his demeanour and broad strokes against the club in recent weeks. But that’s the result of the environment created around him, and those responsible for placing him in the centre of this maelstrom have to share the blame, principally chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox.

They spent £10m to extract Amorim from Sporting just 14 months ago. They understood, clearly, that he was totally wedded to a 3-4-3, which was imperfect for the existing squad. £250m was spent over two windows to give the team the attacking impetus Amorim’s system craved, though not necessarily in the positions needed to fulfil Amorim’s vision.

Former sporting director Dan Ashworth allegedly did not back the appointment of Amorim, citing his formation and the existing players available to a new coach as the principal reasons why. He paid for that with his job, despite United having spent compensation to prise him from his job at Newcastle and then to subsequently pay him off just four months into his position.

INEOS' misguided Amorim decision

INEOS instead backed Amorim in every capacity despite all the evidence suggesting that it was misguided. Their worst Premier League position in the Premier League era. The dismal Europa League final defeat to Tottenham. The Grimsby Carabao Cup debacle. And a general malaise where it becomes very difficult to point to a single progressive performance in that 14 months, a run where Amorim achieved a points-per-game average up there with such EPL luminaries as Alan Pardew and Chris Coleman.

And even just a few months ago, Jim Ratcliffe was adamant that Amorim be given time, that he ‘deserved’ three years at the helm. It’s important to remember that similar was said about Erik Ten Hag before the start of the 2024/25 season, and that lasted until October before the Dutchman departed with a giant £14m cheque to leave without a fuss.

They now have to pay Amorim the totality of his contract, due to run until the summer of 2027, for yet another monumental mistake. The fact that his last act, over a year in, is to question publicly whether he was the manager or the coach speaks volumes as to the disconnect within Old Trafford. Darren Fletcher has been appointed the interim coach and rumours suggest that will remain the situation until the end of the season, where the search for a permanent replacement will begin.

But it’s important to assess this situation as a whole, and while the sheer incompetence stretches beyond INEOS, they are the drivers of this particular clown car. It’s actually impressive that the commercial department can provide record revenues, that the stadium can still sell out, and that people will still show up for this nonsense when the people running things haven’t provided any indication that United will not only return to the top of English football, but that it’s even moving in the right direction.

The fans are told regularly that there’s a ‘review’ of football activities, that restructuring will help, that the team and the manager need time and then the evidence completely confounds everything they are being told.

But now, this time, it feels critical. This is the second season without European football in the 21st century, and another without Champions League will have a real, tangible impact. There will be no £250m spend this summer without that revenue, or without significant sales - and the market value of the squad diminishes with every poor result.

So it’s worth remembering that even if you’re told they are bringing in ‘the best’, United and INEOS have now proven with two managers that they, really, don’t know what they are doing. Whether Amorim was right or not, his departure simply proves that. Those above him making key decisions would be wise to look at their own involvement in this mess - but it’s not worth waiting around for any kind of judgement on that.

Instead, United have a rookie coach, a crocked squad, a perilous financial situation, and just five months to right the wrongs or else potentially be consigned to more seasons of this.

And would you trust this lot to pick the right man now, even if he was available?

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