Manchester United have been linked with a number of managers as Ruben Amorim continues to be under pressure, but one potential replacement threw punches at his own players in training
13:49, 27 Nov 2025
Ruben Amroim
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Ruben Amorim's unbeaten run came to a woeful end against Everton(Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Manchester United's next manager could be a former rival who 'threw punches' at his own players during training sessions.
Ruben Amorim appeared to be turning a corner at Old Trafford on the back of a five-match unbeaten run, but that positive feeling was crushed again when 10-man Everton picked up three points on Monday to raise serious questions about the Portuguese's future and ability.
While Amorim's position appears to be secure, the endless speculation of who will be the next United boss is never ending, and sometimes the fuel can be poured on the fire by those being linked to the job.
One such astonishing situation has seen former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini reportedly tell his friends that he could be the next United boss if Amorim is sacked.
Mancini, who celebrates his 61st birthday today (November 27), is currently the boss of Qatar side Al-Sadd and has managed just once in England, where he led City to their first Premier League title. However, the Italian's behaviour and discipline in training saw him clash with a number of players.
Roberto Mancini
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Roberto Mancini is no stranger to Manchester United fans
Former midfielder Stephen Ireland claimed that Roberto Mancini would throw punches in frustration with some of his players.
The attacker spent five years at the Etihad Stadium - but he has admitted that he did not see eye-to-eye with the Italian coach who led the side to their first-ever Premier League title.
Ireland exclusively told Ladbrokes: Fanzone: “I honestly believe that if it was anyone but Roberto Mancini, my career at Man City would've gone differently; I'd have been fine.
"Don't get me wrong, he's a great manager with a fantastic CV and he's achieved a lot; I'm not knocking his ability as a manager, but I think he was brought in with that brief of getting success as quickly as possible, and he didn't care who he upset in the process."
Ireland continued: “It's not just me; I know there's a handful of players who would say the same... he was just not a good guy. The squad was so good, the players won the trophies for him; it wasn't him.
Barclays Premier League, Manchester City Training, Carrington Training Ground, (left to right) Manchester City's Carlos Tevez, Nedum Onuoha, Adam Johnson and Stephen Ireland in action during training (Photo by Sharon Latham/Manchester City FC via Getty Images)
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Carlos Tevez had a public falling out with Roberto Mancini
“The amount of arguments and fights and fists I saw in training, honestly, if only there was an Amazon documentary back then, with some of the stuff he was doing. Honestly, it was just incredible; the amount of times him and Carlos Tevez would go head-to-head, swinging for each other.. mental stuff. And it was over literally nothing. I don't know if that was just his tactic to constantly p*** people off.
The fallout between Mancini and Tevez has been well documented. The then-coach declared the striker was ‘finished’ at City after the Argentinian refused to come on as a second-half substitute in the 2-0 defeat by Bayern Munich in September.
When Mancini was asked if he will ever pick Tevez again, he replied: "No. If we want to improve like a team, like a squad, Carlos cannot play with us. With me, no – it is finished."
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He held emergency talks with City's owners and the player was eventually reintegrated into the team.
As for Ireland, he began his professional years with City, starting in 2005 and leaving following the 2009-10 season after featuring in 30 games across all competitions.
He later played for Aston Villa, Newcastle, Stoke and Bolton.