Manchester United fans have become increasingly restless with manager Ruben Amorim, whose winning percentage is hovering around just 25 percent. The ineptitude displayed by the club is somehow making a few fans reminiscent of the dreary Erik ten Hag days, such is life under Amorim.
His stubborness and marriage to the 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 system, depending on what you’d like to call it, has stunned and annoyed fans and pundits alike, and there are even signs of it getting to the players.
But Manchester United aren’t sacking Amorim just yet. They may have quite a few million reasons why they are being hesitant to dispatch Amorim to the shadow realm where Ten Hag currently takes up his residence.
According to a report from the Daily Mail’s Chris Wheeler, Nathan Salt, and Liam Morgan, it would cost 12 million pounds for Manchester United to fire Amorim this season if it is within the first year of his contract.
Amorim was hired on Nov. 11, so if Man United play so poorly that they cannot hold out until November, then they will have to fork over 12 million pounds to get rid of him.
So there is an incentive for Amorim to keep his job and for Jim Ratcliffe to, at least, take a slower approach with the embattled coach. But I bet if you poll most Manchester United fans, they wouldn’t care about the money.
Because while 12 million pounds seems like a lot of money, the price paid to the club, the supporters, and to the spots in the table by lingering with a bad manager is far, far steeper than an amount of money less than what the average Premier League starter costs these days.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2011. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has contributed to sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. Joe’s work has appeared in ESPN, Bleacher Report, and Sports Illustrated. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling, respectively.