RUBEN, ADEUS
Considering it took Chelsea 19 days to sack Enzo Maresca following his very public act of insubordination towards the Stamford Bridge hierarchy in mid-December, it is only the speed with which Manchester United kicked their head coach towards the kerb following yesterday’s outburst at Elland Road that might have come as a surprise to Ruben Amorim. Short of rocking up for his post-match press conference waving a placard bearing the slogan “Please Sack Me”, the Portuguese could scarcely have done more to ensure the abrupt receipt of his marching orders. As if his repeated insistence he was “going to be manager of this team, not head coach” wasn’t enough, Amorim threw shade at Jason Wilcox, the club sporting director, and announced there’d be a Ruben-shaped hole in the Old Trafford exit door when his contract expired in 18 months – unless he was sacked first. Less than 18 hours later, with the monotonous predictability of a Bazballing batter throwing away his wicket to a time-killing pre-lunch long hop, any remaining confusion over the 40-year-old’s exact job title was finally cleared up – Amorim is now neither manager nor head coach at United, but gainfully and perhaps mercifully unemployed.
“Ruben Amorim has departed his role as Head Coach of Manchester United,” intoned the obligatory club statement, which stopped just short of underlining, highlighting and italicising the departing gaffer’s former job description. “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 would like to thank Ruben for his contribution to the club and wishes him well for the future. Darren Fletcher will take charge of the team against Burnley on Wednesday.”
While the club’s leadership may have decided it was the right time to make a change, Football Daily probably isn’t the only person who doubts their stated reluctance to do so. A man who clearly had notions above what the club hierarchy considered his station, Amorim had only masterminded victory in 24 of his 63 games in charge, appeared to have a fractious relationship with Wilcox and had the unenviable record of being the only United boss in the history of the club to be pictured moving magnets around a travel tactics board in a flooded dugout during an embarrassing Fizzy Cup exit at the hands of Grimsby Town. By those snake-belly low standards, yesterday’s come-from-behind draw at Leeds was Roy of the Rovers stuff, so we can only conclude it was Amorim’s post-match tantrum that ultimately sealed his fate.
“If you zoom out, it’s a bit of a mess on all sides,” said Jamie Jackson, Big Paper’s Reni-hat and Kappa trackie-wearing scribe on the Manchester beat in a wireless interview earlier this morning. “I don’t think the hierarchy or the executive come out of this very well. Jason Wilcox has a big say over who comes in but he doesn’t carry the can for bad results. Moving forward, would any big gun manager want to go there?” While Maresca, Oliver Glasner and Gareth Southgate are among the heavy managerial artillery already being touted as potential replacements for Amorim, the word on the street is that United find themselves in the farcical position of hoping to replace their short-term interim head coach with a more long-term interim head coach who will see them through to the end of the season. For a club who famously consider only the “best in class” for their High Performance backroom leadership roles, United sure seem to employ no end of dunces.
… AU REVOIR, WILFRIED
On a big day for the Door Marked Do One, Celtic have brought an abrupt end to the Wilfried Nancy experiment after six defeats in his eight games in charge. Despite claiming he was “together with the board” and “really close to things turning around” after Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat to Rangers, the former Columbus Crew manager got his marching orders this afternoon. “Celtic Football Club today announces that it has decided to terminate the contract of manager Wilfried Nancy, with immediate effect,” read a club statement that made United’s earlier effort look like a eulogy. One thing’s for sure: after today’s sackings, we surely won’t ever see another manager dare to use a tiny tactics board on the touchline. Now, what’s Martin O’Neill’s phone number?
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“My sole focus has been on this game. Until I am told otherwise, I will lead the team. It was a great experience, a great game to be a part of, really proud of the players and how they performed” – while Chelsea’s board were busy chatting with Liam Rosenior, interim head coach Calum McFarlane earned an impressive draw at the Etihad, and then nailed the post-match interview.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
What next for the bin fire that is present-day Manchester United? Will they bring back Ole Gunnar Solskjær, hire Carlo Ancelotti’s eyebrow, or ask Martin O’Neill to steady the ship but just for eight games? Perhaps they’ll blow the cobwebs off Sir Alex Ferguson and get him to see out the campaign (except he might actually win a trophy and then insist on staying in charge). Still, it could be worse — they could give Big Ange his third Premier League club of the season. After all, what could possibly go wrong? – Mark McFadden.
My family and I have been attending every England match for the last three years to get enough caps to secure tickets for Englands World Cup campaign in USA USA USA. Despite the paltry ticket allocation and ridiculous prices we applied for tickets. Over the weekend we cancelled our applications. Peace prize anyone?” – Ben Gibbes.
La Liga side Osasuna have just launched an ‘Osasunista desde la cuna’ (Osasunista from the Cradle) initiative, in which all babies born in Navarra receive a free shirt, shorts, toy and notebook, plus €50 deposited in an account. I would suggest Premier League clubs do the same, but we all know how that would pan out” – Noble Francis.
So, you urged the reader to ‘pour yourself a pint of wine’ (Football Daily Christmas awards). I received that at 12.04pm on 17 December, possibly a new record. Given the time of year, would it be 100 miles wide of the mark for me to suggest that pints of wine contributed to the timing, as well as the content of this piece?” – Glynn Marshall.
As a patron of your august publication. I totally delighted in your working conditions sign-off in the Christmas awards. Fabulous. Well deserved. Thanks for your efforts” – S Sullivan (Sully).
Please stop” – Frankie Dodds.
If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Mark McFadden. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we have them, are here.
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