While tipping Amorim for a hasty return to the Premier League, Campbell admits that he acted “naively” during a testing spell at Old Trafford: “How naive of Ruben Amorim… unless you win on a regular basis – you’re not going to get control. Those days are kind of gone. Those days of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger controlling absolutely everything are gone. He would have known that.
“He didn’t realise how massive Manchester United is. It’s a gigantic club. It’s one of the biggest, iconic clubs in the world. How are you going to control that? That’s nonsense.
“First off, you’ve got to understand the people, the fans, the history, things like that. It’s very hard, and you can’t import stuff in. You’ve just got to understand that club, that city, what it means, the frequency of the club. You’ve got to jump in, immerse yourself with it.
“And at the same time, you’ve got to win. Manchester United is all about winning. Successful club, huge history. You can’t be saying those things – it’s a bit naive, because you’re not in Portugal anymore. You’re in England and you’re at one of the biggest clubs in the world.”
Amorim pleaded for patience on a regular basis across his reign at United, but ultimately pushed things too far when speaking out against a supposed lack of support at boardroom level. He also claimed, in January 2025, to be working with “the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United” when guiding them to a 15th-place finish in 2024-25 and failure to qualify for European competition.