Football Weekly – Ruben Amorim Axed: What Now for Manchester United?

Date: January 6, 2026
Host: Max Rushden
Panel: Barry Glendenning, Nuradeen Chowdhury (Noz), Jamie Jackson, John Brewin

Episode Overview

This episode dives straight into the dramatic sacking of Ruben Amorim as Manchester United head coach, dissecting why the decision was made, reflecting on his troubled tenure, and lamenting the ongoing structural chaos at Old Trafford. The panel assesses how much of United's constant turmoil comes down to the coach, how much comes down to the club's muddled leadership and ownership under INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, and speculates on where United turn next.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Timing and Reasons Behind Amorim’s Sacking

• (03:02) Jamie Jackson explains Amorim’s departure was mutually inevitable after escalating tensions with club leadership, feuds over transfer budgets, and tactical inflexibility.

  • Board frictions climaxed during a post-Leeds game presser and a heated debate with technical director Jason Wilcox (03:00).
  • Love/hate for 3-4-3: Amorim persisted with his system despite warnings he didn't have the squad for it, leading to mounting frustration.
  • Notably, Amorim said Kobby Mainoo was the ‘future of Manchester United,' yet rarely picked him, suggesting board-level pressure over selections.

  Notable Quote:

  • Jamie Jackson: “I am very odd. I am the manager, not the head coach. And you know, if you ask me was it about me or something, I thought it was just a sack me… I just want to get out of here." (05:07)

2. Character and Conduct: Amorim’s Downfall

• (09:52) Barry Glendenning chalks up Amorim’s failure as much to his temperament as his tactics:

  • Describes his “prickliness” and emotional volatility: “There was a prickliness about him and he obviously has an ego and he has that intransigence that you mentioned and it doesn't fit in the structure such as it is at Manchester United...” (10:08)

• (12:29) John Brewin’s take: Amorim’s public insubordination felt calculated, a way to hasten his own exit with a “big payoff,” retaining his reputation.

  Notable Quote:

  • John Brewin: “It was a blatant act of insubordination, much the same as Enzo Maresca. And if you behave like that and you don't have the results to back it up, you will get sacked.” (12:29)

3. Structure, Leadership, and the INEOS Era

• (17:49, 18:38) The club’s confusion and dysfunction are traced to the INEOS hierarchy:

  • Jamie Jackson exposes infighting and blurred responsibility between chief executive Omar Berrada, technical director Wilcox, head of recruitment Vivell, and Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
  • Decisions have become reactionary and inconsistent: Man United now “a morass" with "best in class decision-making, sort of great sort of LinkedIn bollocks” (17:57).
  • Wilcox and Barada have “pariah status”—the structure empowers the new suits, but they aren’t delivering.

  Notable Quote:

  • Jamie Jackson: “You are completely correct. I mean, you know, Ash was an interesting one... he didn't fancy Amarim... he thought it was a bad fit.” (18:38)

• (25:12) Noz sums up the post-Ferguson era as United’s desperate quest for another solitary genius—missing the need for several ‘best-in-class’ operators working together.

  Notable Quote:

  • Nuradeen Chowdhury (Noz): “It’s almost as if we’ve been looking for like the next Ferguson and the next Ferguson doesn’t exist... what you need in the modern game is have the chain working. You need four or five people in the chain to be really, really good.” (25:12)

• (27:34) John Brewin notes Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS’ “mediocre” record in top-level sport: “His Formula 1 team is bang average... America’s Cup sailing team got slaughtered… Nice aren’t particularly successful... so there is no reason to suppose that his involvement with Manchester United would be anything better than mediocre at best.” (27:34)

4. Fan Frustration and the “Unmanageable” Club

• (39:29) The club is now a poisoned chalice even for top managers. Who’d want to take the job? Panel suggests only a supremely pragmatic manager like Carlo Ancelotti stands a chance, but why would he or Emery leave better-run clubs for United’s chaos?

  Notable Quotes:

  • Nuradeen Chowdhury: “It’s the most pressurized job in football... you’ve got everything working against you in terms of it being chaotic and imperfect… United will always get engagement. United will always get rage.” (37:59)
  • John Brewin: “Quite a few of the people being named as potential future managers have already made it extremely clear they have no time for the kind of bullshit they will have to put up with from the guys in the suits… it just seems to be a feedback loop of this nonsense.” (41:14)
  • Barry Glendenning: “Maybe the impossible job. The unmanageable club, the unmanageable city. It's just too hard and we just have to live with it and it's just gonna have to live with the soap opera.” (43:40)

5. The Punditocracy’s Influence

• (43:16) The panel speculate whether former United legends-turned-pundits (Neville, Scholes, Keane, Rooney) incite pressure behind the scenes, pushing the board into panicked decisions.

  Notable Moment:

  • Barry Glendenning: “Clearly Jim Ratcliffe listens to the Overlap…” (43:16)
  • John Brewin describes United’s “Politburo of bullshit in the stands for every game.”

6. What’s Next: Caretakers, Candidates, and the Death Spiral

• (30:40) Darren Fletcher appointed interim, yet described as a repeat of United’s cyclical DNA caretaker appointments (Giggs, Carrick, Solskjaer).
• (31:21) Jamie Jackson cynical about structural change: “Structurally the club is in a lot, a lot of trouble. And it's… Groundhog Day all over again.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If you ask me — was it about me or something — I thought it was just a sack me that, you know, I just want to get out of here.” – Jamie Jackson (05:07)
• “There was a prickliness about him and he obviously has an ego and he has that intransigence... People like Jamie here can ask him questions and they know that he's going to give an answer and that actually… he self-detonated. At a certain point, he just thought, I've had enough here.” – Barry Glendenning (10:08)
• “It was a blatant act of insubordination… you will get sacked. I think he wanted to be sacked and he now gets to leave Manchester United... just some other bloke who's been through the Manchester United meat grinder.” – John Brewin (12:29)
• “Ashworth went because he didn’t fancy Amarim… I could see a scenario where one or both of Wilcox or Barada go, too.” – Jamie Jackson (18:38)
• “It's the most pressurized job in football... the worst job in football because you've got the worst of both worlds.” – Nuradeen Chowdhury (37:59)
• “Maybe it’s just Manchester’s just mad and you just can’t do it… the impossible job, the unmanageable club, the unmanageable city.” – Barry Glendenning (43:40)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:02 – Why Amorim Was Sacked: Insight from Jamie Jackson
• 09:52 – Panel’s Perspective on Amorim’s Character and Tactics
• 12:29 – Amorim’s Public Insurrection and Calculated Exit
• 17:49 – INEOS Hierarchy Dissected: Structure and Dysfunction
• 25:12 – Fan Perspective: Post-Ferguson, Modern Club Management
• 27:34 – Jim Ratcliffe’s Sporting Track Record Scrutinized
• 30:40 – Darren Fletcher as Interim; “DNA” Revisited
• 39:29 – Who Would Want This Job? Realities for Future Managers
• 43:16 – Punditocracy’s Power and the “Politburo of Bullshit”
• 43:40 – Is United Now Simply Unmanageable?

Tone, Atmosphere & In-Jokes

• The discussion is informed, darkly comic, and self-aware, with liberal jokes about club “DNA” and “LinkedIn bollocks.”
• Regular jabs at United’s Groundhog Day nature; “Who’s the next ex-player to sit in as caretaker in 2028?” (30:40)
• Light-hearted ribbing about Jamie Jackson as the “bad cop” interrogator in press conferences.

Summary

The panel paints Manchester United as a club in perpetual crisis: sacking managers to mask deeper flaws, run by a board and ownership group chasing ‘best in class’ LinkedIn ideals, yet lurching from one chaotic cycle to the next. With Amorim’s tactical intransigence, boardroom politics, and the weight of United’s history all conspiring to undo progress, the next manager faces a poisoned chalice—one made all the more volatile for every “politburo” suit, pundit, and billionaire ego at the top.

The Guardian’s Football Weekly reminds us that until structure, trust, and clarity of roles are restored, Old Trafford will remain football’s greatest soap opera—for better or worse.