Ruben Amorim: Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to give pressured Manchester United head coach three years to prove himself | Football news

Manchester United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has said he wants to give under-pressure head coach Ruben Amorim three years in the job to prove himself.

The Portuguese coach has a contract at the end of the 2026/27 season, according to which he would have been in charge of the club for two and a half years, with the possibility of an additional year.

Amorim is approaching the first anniversary of his appointment at Old Trafford, but his position has been under constant scrutiny since he took charge on November 1 last year.

They have failed to record back-to-back Premier League wins during this period, finishing 15th last season – their worst finish in the top flight since 1974 – and things have not improved much since the summer when United were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by League Two Grimsby in August.

This has led to suggestions that Amorim’s job is under threat, but Ratcliffe said the 40-year-old was a “good guy” and had time to turn things around.

“Ruben needs to demonstrate that he is a great coach for three years,” he told The Business podcast, produced by The Times and The Sunday Times.

Asked if Amorim would get three years, Ratcliffe replied: “Yes. That’s where I would be. Three years. Because football doesn’t happen overnight.

“It’s been three years. You also watch [Mikel] Arteta to Arsenal. He had a difficult time during the first two years.

“We have to be patient. We have a long-term plan. It’s not a switch.

“You can’t run a club like Manchester United by reacting instinctively to a journalist who attacks one every week.”

What if the Glazers want Amorim eliminated?

Ratcliffe has owned just under 30% of United through his chemicals company INEOS since February 2024, taking control of the club’s football operations.

That still left the Glazer family, who have been the subject of numerous fan protests over their management of the club since taking over in 2005, in overall control.

Asked what would happen if the Glazers asked him to sack Amorim, Ratcliffe replied: “It’s not going to happen.”

The INEOS boss added that the Glazers were happy for him to take charge, adding: “That probably sums it up. We’re local and they’re across the pond.

“It’s a long road trying to manage a football club as big and complex as Manchester United. We’re here with our feet on the ground.

“They [the Glazers] I’ve got a bad reputation… but they’re really nice people and they’re really passionate about the club.”

Ratcliffe himself came under fire after controversial cuts to reduce costs led to the loss of around 450 jobs and the removal of benefits such as subsidized lunches for staff.

“The costs were just too high. There are fantastic people at Manchester United, but there was also a level of mediocrity and it became excessive,” he said.

“I’ve gotten a lot of criticism for free lunches, but no one has ever given me a free lunch.

“Like it or not, the biggest correlation between results and any external factor is profitability. The more money you have, the better your team is.

“A lot of what we did in the first year was to spend a huge amount of time putting the club on a sustainable and healthy footing.

“We don’t see the full benefit of the restructuring we’ve done in this set of (financial) results (United last month reported a record turnover of £666.5m for last season but a loss of £33m for the financial year) and we weren’t in the Champions League.

“These numbers will improve. Manchester United will become the most profitable football club in the world, in my opinion, and from there will hopefully emerge long-term, sustainable, high-level football.”