Sir Jim Ratcliffe has underlined his faith in Ruben Amorim and wants to give the Portuguese manager a few years to prove his worth at Manchester United, although history suggests few are given that long.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has stressed his faith in the hapless Manchester United manager, insisting Ruben Amorim needs three years to “prove he is a great coach”. If he can last that long, he will be the first since Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Scot’s storied tenure ended in 2013, with a succession of big-time managers attempting to replicate his success since then but failing. As a result, they moved on earlier than other teams and Amorim is now the man tasked with making United great again.
He will soon be celebrating his first anniversary as Red Devils manager, but he has endured a nightmare so far. Despite this, he appears to have the trust of top men who have shown no interest in sacking the Portuguese manager.
If Ratcliffe really gives Amorim three years to prove his worth, he will outlast any United manager since Ferguson – even though he has the worst winning record of any permanent manager. As it stands, Ole Gunnar Solskjær is the longest-serving player in the job, with just one month left until his third year.
But in an interview on the Times’ The Business podcast, Ratcliffe said of his head coach: “He hasn’t had his best season. Ruben has three years to prove he’s a great coach and that’s what I can do.”
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David Moyes was unable to continue the season when he was given the unenviable task of replacing Ferguson. Louis van Gaal was then given two years at the helm, but missed out on the Champions League in his second year, even if they won the FA Cup in their last game, which cost them dearly.
Jose Mourinho, one of only two managers to have achieved a second-place finish, was at the club for two years and seven months before Solskjaer took over. The only manager to replace Rachliffe and Ineos so far was Erik ten Hag, with the Dutch manager lasting just over two years.
Amorim was the first manager appointed by Ratcliffe and the team of lieutenants he established. They are looking to prove they have acquired the right man, even if all the statistics and performances suggest that Amorim may struggle to turn around the club’s fortunes.
However, the Ineos boss slammed speculation surrounding the United manager’s future, claiming too many were hoping for an overnight fix and immediate success.
He said: “The press, sometimes I don’t understand it. They want overnight success. They think it’s a light switch. You flip a switch and tomorrow everything will fall apart. You can’t run a club like Manchester United with an expedient response to journalists who are ranting every week.”
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