Ruben Amorim experienced further humiliation at Manchester United after falling to defeat against Grimsby in the Carabao Cup.
Late strikes from Bryan Mbeumo and Harry Maguire were not enough to salvage a woeful opening 45 minutes, which saw Manchester United go 2-0 down after goals from Charles Vernam and Tyrell Warren.
Andre Onana – who could be sold before the transfer deadline on Monday – was directly at fault for the second goal, flapping at the ball.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been eager to save every penny he can since arriving at Manchester United – dismissing over 450 staff members while cancelling staff benefits – so he will presumably be irked to hear how much money has been squandered by this early Carabao Cup exit.
Manchester United lose out on £7,000 and chance to win £187,000 in total
Defeat to Grimsby has cost Manchester United a sum of £7,000 – the prize money awarded to winners of second round ties.
Had Manchester United remained in the competition and gone all the way – like they did under Erik ten Hag in 2023 – it would have seen £187,000 in total added to the finances at Old Trafford.
Round Money
First Round winners £5,000
Second Round winners £7,000
Third Round winners £10,000
Fourth Round winners £15,000
Quarter-Final winners £25,000
Semi-Final winners £25,000
Winner £100,000
Total throughout competition £187,000
Of course, it is not a large amount of money for a Premier League side in the grand scheme of things, and Manchester United will surely be more concerned by a lack of success on the pitch.
However, with Ratcliffe already making plenty of cutbacks before spending over £200m on Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko – who was not helped by Diogo Dalot – it is hardly ideal.
Dropping out of the Carabao Cup has also now blocked off one possible route Manchester United had to qualify for Europe this season, which will result in further revenue losses if the Red Devils fail to find another way into a UEFA competition this term.
How much it would cost to sack Ruben Amorim
Amorim has now lost 18 of his 44 games in charge of Manchester United, and looked like a broken man on the touchline as he desperately scrambled through his tactics.
However – after already spending so much on players and making staff cutbacks – Ratcliffe really cannot afford to sack the man born in Lisbon.
Ruben Amorim looks dejected during a Carabao Cup game between Manchester United and Grimsby
Photo by George Wood/Getty Images
It already cost a total of £21.4m to replace Ten Hag with Amorim – according to the Guardian – and seeing as the Portuguese tactician still has a contract running until June 2027, it would be expensive to hand him his P45.
Amorim is believed to earn £6m annually at Old Trafford, so it would roughly require a £12m sum to pay off his contract – which is before you consider any compensation fee needed to hire a replacement.