{"id":394374,"date":"2026-01-07T17:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T17:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/394374\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T17:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T17:50:10","slug":"middling-results-and-yet-another-fired-coach-just-when-will-manchester-united-finally-get-it-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/394374\/","title":{"rendered":"Middling results and yet another fired coach: Just when will Manchester United finally get it right?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n The \u201cImpossible Dream\u201d banner so often seen over the years at Manchester United<\/a>\u2019s Old Trafford<\/a> is a fan-inspired tribute to the extraordinary career of revered former manager Alex Ferguson.\n <\/p>\n

\n These days, approaching 13 years on since his retirement following a trophy-laden era of dominance, it\u2019s still proving to be an impossible job to successfully replace the iconic Scot who delivered a record 13 Premier League<\/a> titles during his time at the club.\n <\/p>\n

\n United hasn\u2019t been champion of England since.\n <\/p>\n

\n Following in the footsteps of a legend is a daunting prospect at the best of times and especially so when the club in question happens to be not just Britain\u2019s biggest but also one of the largest in the world.\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s why, for some, the Manchester United job has become a poisoned chalice.\n <\/p>\n

\n Another Scot \u2013 former United midfielder and current under-18s head coach Darren Fletcher \u2013 will be the latest to oversee the Premier League giant\u2019s first team following the turbulent and uninspiring 14-month reign of Portuguese head coach Ruben Amorim<\/a>, which ended on Monday.\n <\/p>\n

\n When Fletcher takes charge of Wednesday night\u2019s trip to Burnley, he\u2019ll become the 11th permanent or interim manager since Ferguson stood down in 2013.\n <\/p>\n

\n Fletcher won five Premier League titles as a player under Ferguson, so it\u2019s no surprise he turned to his mentor for advice before accepting the role as interim boss.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI\u2019ve got a really good relationship with Sir Alex, so it\u2019s probably the first person I phoned actually, so I wanted to speak to him first \u2013 and ultimately to get his blessing, to be perfectly honest with you. I think he deserves that respect. I wanted to run it by him, what he thought, and he was supportive of it,\u201d the 41-year-old told reporters on Tuesday.\n <\/p>\n

\"Interim<\/p>\n

\n \u201cHe echoed my thoughts which I\u2019ve always said. It\u2019s your job to do the best for Manchester United,\u201d Fletcher added.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSurreal\u201d is how he describes the last couple of days.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s an amazing honor to be able to lead a Manchester United team. I don\u2019t even think it\u2019s in my wildest dreams that it was something that could potentially happen. Something I\u2019m really proud to do. Not in the circumstances I expected it to happen, so that obviously is something that doesn\u2019t sit quite easy with me. But I\u2019ve got a job to do and I\u2019ve got to lead the team.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n In addition to the Burnley fixture, Fletcher is also expected to be in charge for the FA Cup third-round clash with Brighton on Sunday before a caretaker boss is appointed. Then comes the seismic task of appointing United\u2019s latest permanent manager in time for next season.\n <\/p>\n

\n Over the years, big names including Louis van Gaal, Jos\u00e9 Mourinho, club legend Ole Gunnar Solskj\u00e6r and Erik ten Hag<\/a> have all come and gone.\n <\/p>\n

\n United simply can\u2019t afford to get yet another appointment wrong \u2013 yet how many times has that been said over the last decade?\n <\/p>\n

\n Amorim \u2013 the latest incumbent in the role \u2013 was spotted out walking in Cheshire just hours after his dismissal which came the day after the 6th-placed Red Devils\u2019 1-1 draw at Leeds United.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Portuguese was shown the door reportedly amid behind the scenes tension at Old Trafford, with the former Sporting CP head coach hinting on Sunday that he was unhappy with interference from the club\u2019s leadership, insisting he was the manager of the team and \u201cnot just the coach\u201d while adding every department at the club \u2013 including sporting director Jason Wilcox \u2013 needed to do their job.\n <\/p>\n

\n The 40-year-old\u2019s departure came after he ended his first season with the club in 15th place, United\u2019s worst finish in the Premier League era and also its lowest placing since the Red Devils were relegated in 1974. His team also lost the Europa League final to Tottenham<\/a>, though Amorim\u2019s undisputed low point was the embarrassing Carabao Cup exit to fourth-tier Grimsby Town earlier this season.\n <\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

\n According to Opta, Amorim ended his tenure with the worst win ratio (32%) and the worst goals conceded per game (1.53) in the Premier League era of any Manchester United manager.\n <\/p>\n

\n Football writer and broadcaster Henry Winter has covered United for decades and feels the club must now take its time with the next managerial appointment and wait for the summer if necessary to get an elite coach following this year\u2019s World Cup<\/a> in North America.\n <\/p>\n

\n Thomas Tuchel has a contract with England\u2019s national team through the 2026 tournament while USMNT boss Mauricio Pochettino has previously been linked with the United job multiple times over the years. Closer to home, former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca is available while Crystal Palace\u2019s head coach Oliver Glasner is also considered a frontrunner.\n <\/p>\n

\n Winter believes Amorim \u2013 who employed a now infamous and rigid 3-4-3 formation during his time at United \u2013 was given a fair crack of the whip by the Manchester club, which is majority-owned by the Florida-based Glazer family. At one point late last year, the Portuguese said not even the Pope could persuade him to change tactics!\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cAmorim was naively and stubbornly committed to a system that didn\u2019t suit the squad or the club\u2019s history,\u201d Winter told CNN Sports<\/a> while adding other factors are also in play.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThere\u2019s an issue with leadership throughout the club from dressing room to boardroom. If the people at the top, the Glazers, aren\u2019t passionate about the team, what message does that send internally?\u201d he added.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN Sports has reached out to Manchester United for comment.\n <\/p>\n

\n Whoever United\u2019s next head coach is, there\u2019s one familiar sight he\u2019ll simply have to get used to: the presence of the great Alex Ferguson. The 84-year-old is still regularly seen at United games and was in attendance for what turned out to be Amorim\u2019s final match in charge.\n <\/p>\n

\"(L-R)<\/p>\n

\n \u201cUnited head coaches should be inspired by Ferguson\u2019s presence, not intimidated. What does that say about their character?\u201d Winter added.\n <\/p>\n

\n And \u201ccharacter\u201d is very much what Fletcher is also expecting from his players amid criticism from some of the Scot\u2019s former United teammates now working as pundits.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cOutside noise, former players, it\u2019s difficult to deal with. It\u2019s not easy because those players have won everything. They\u2019ve got success behind them, they\u2019ve got trophies. So, it\u2019s hard to criticize them back because they\u2019ve got their medals on the table, so it\u2019s really, really difficult.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cBut again, that\u2019s what it is being a Manchester United player. Get your head around it, learn how you\u2019re going to deal with it, and embrace the challenge.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n A familiar journey of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu is now underway for Manchester United and its long-suffering fans who are desperate to see past glories return to the club.\n <\/p>\n

\n And so it begins again.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The \u201cImpossible Dream\u201d banner so often seen over the years at Manchester United\u2019s Old Trafford is a fan-inspired…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394375,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-394374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}