Ruben Amorim: Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to give under-pressure Manchester United head coach three years to prove himself

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.

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

He has failed to record back-to-back Premier League wins during that time, coming 15th last season - their worst top-flight finish since 1974 - and things have not improved much since the summer as United were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by League Two Grimsby in August.

That has led to suggestions Amorim's job is under threat, but Ratcliffe said the 40-year-old is a "good guy" and has time to turn things around.

"Ruben needs to demonstrate he is a great coach over three years," he told The Business podcast, produced by The Times and The Sunday Times.

Asked if Amorim is going to get three years, Ratcliffe replied: "Yes. That is where I would be. Three years. Because football is not overnight.

"It's three years. You also look at [Mikel] Arteta at Arsenal. He had a miserable time over the first couple of years.

"We have to be patient. We have a long-term plan. It isn't a light switch.

"You can't run a club like Manchester United on knee-jerk reactions to some journalist who goes off on one every week."
What if the Glazers want Amorim out?
Ratcliffe has owned just under 30 per cent of United through his chemicals company INEOS since February 2024, taking over control of football operations at the club.

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

Asked what would happen if the Glazers told him to sack Amorim, Ratcliffe said: "It's not going to happen."

The INEOS boss added the Glazers were happy for him to take charge, adding: "That probably sums it up. We're local and they're the other side of the pond.

"That's a long way away to try and manage a football club as big and complex as Manchester United. We're here with feet on the ground.

"They [the Glazers] get a bad rap... but they are really nice people and they are really passionate about the club."

Ratcliffe has come in for criticism of his own after controversial cuts designed to drive down costs saw around 450 jobs axed and the removal of perks like subsidised staff lunches.

"The costs were just too high. There are some fantastic people at Manchester United, but there was also a level of mediocrity and it had become bloated," he said.

"I got a lot of flak for the free lunches, but no one's ever given me a free lunch.

"The biggest correlation, like it or not, between results and any external factor - is profitability. The more cash you have got, the better squad you can build.

"So a lot of what we have done in the first year is spend an awful lot of time putting the club on a sustainable, healthy footing.

"We're not seeing all the benefits of the restructuring that we've done in this set of (financial) results (United last month reported record revenues of £666.5million for last season but a loss of £33million for the financial year) and we were not in the Champions League.

"Those numbers will get better. Manchester United will become the most profitable football club in the world, in my view, and from that will stem, I hope, a long-term, sustainable, high-level of football."
Man Utd players 'behind Amorim and his philosophy'

The Manchester United squad are behind Ruben Amorim and his philosophy despite an up and down start to the season, Sky Sports News understands.

Ratcliffe says he wants to give his first managerial appointment at Old Trafford three years to prove himself as a "great coach" and that patience extends to the players.

United's director of football Jason Wilcox has canvassed the opinion of some of the United players - as he would in normal conversations around the training ground - and the consensus is that the squad are happy with Amorim.

Of course, there is empathy and understanding that perhaps the likes of Kobbie Mainoo and Joshua Zirkzee, for example, may not be fully content with the lack of game time they have had so far this season.

But, for the most part, it seems clear, as of now, that the Portuguese has the backing of the group - some of whom, most notably Bryan Mbeumo and Mason Mount, have said so publicly in recent interviews.
Analysis: Is Ratcliffe's backing of Amorim absolute?
"We all know how football works. Before the next international break, Man Utd have got four games, Liverpool, Brighton, Forest and Spurs.

"What happens if they lose all those games? There will be another international break. Everybody will be talking about Ruben Amorim's future again.

"This is a very significant intervention by Jim Ratcliffe to come out and back Ruben Amorim. I personally think the backing is not 100 per cent. If you actually look at the quotes, he's not coming out and saying come what may, Ruben Amorim is not leaving. He will be the head coach for the next three years.

"He's just saying 'Ruben needs to demonstrate he's a great coach over three years'. 'We have to be patient'. 'We have a long-term plan'. 'It isn't a light switch'.

"It's not a light switch, but Manchester United are one of the biggest clubs in the world. I would say the only clubs that really compare to them on a worldwide basis are Real Madrid and Barcelona.

"What would journalists in Spain who cover Real Madrid or Barcelona be saying if Real Madrid finished 15th in the table? What would they be saying if their new manager was bottom of the table when it came to results since he'd taken over?"