Sir Jim Ratcliffe breaks silence with update on Ruben Amorim’s Man Utd future | OneFootball

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Manchester United’s minority owner, has publicly committed to head coach Ruben Amorim, granting him a three-year period to demonstrate his abilities and rejecting any notion of "knee-jerk" reactions.

Amorim, who will mark his first anniversary at Old Trafford on November 1, has been under constant scrutiny since his appointment.

His tenure has been challenging, with the team failing to secure back-to-back Premier League victories and finishing 15th last season – their worst top-flight performance since 1974.

This season has also seen an early exit from the Carabao Cup at the hands of League Two side Grimsby.

Despite calls for change, Ratcliffe, speaking on The Business podcast, produced by The Times and The Sunday Times, described the 40-year-old as a "good guy" who needs time.

"He has not had the best of seasons. Ruben needs to demonstrate he is a great coach over three years. That’s where I would be," Ratcliffe stated.

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Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim (left) shake hands with Manchester United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe following defeat in the UEFA Europa League final (PA Wire)

He criticised media pressure for instant success, adding: "The press, sometimes I don’t understand. They want overnight success.

“They think it’s a light switch. You know, you flick a switch and it’s all going to be roses tomorrow.

"You can’t run a club like Manchester United on knee-jerk reactions to some journalist who goes off on one every week."

Ratcliffe has owned just under 30 percent of United through his chemicals company Ineos since February 2024, taking over control of football operations at the club.

That still left the Glazer family, who have been the subject of numerous fan protests over their handling of the club since taking over in 2005, in overall charge.

Asked what would happen if the Glazers told him to sack Amorim, Ratcliffe said: “It’s not going to happen.”

The Ineos boss added the Glazers were happy for him to take charge, adding: “That probably sums it up. We’re local and they’re the other side of the pond.

“That’s a long way away to try and manage a football club as big as complex as Manchester United. We’re here with feet on the ground.

“They get a bad rap…but they are really nice people and they are really passionate about the club.”

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Ratcliffe has owned just under 30 percent of United through his chemicals company Ineos since February 2024, taking over control of football operations at the club (PA Wire)

Ratcliffe has come in for criticism of his own after controversial cuts designed to drive down costs saw around 450 jobs axed and the removal of perks like subsidised staff lunches.

“The costs were just too high. There are some fantastic people at Manchester United, but there was also a level of mediocrity and it had become bloated,” he said.

“I got a lot of flak for the free lunches, but no-one’s ever given me a free lunch.

“The biggest correlation, like it or not, between results and any external factor – is profitability. The more cash you have got, the better squad you can build.

“So a lot of what we have done in the first year is spend an awful lot of time putting the club on a sustainable, healthy footing.

“We’re not seeing all the benefits of the restructuring that we’ve done in this set of (financial) results (United last month reported record revenues of £666.5million for last season but a loss of £33million for the financial year) and we were not in the Champions League.

“Those numbers will get better. Manchester United will become the most profitable football club in the world, in my view, and from that will stem, I hope, a long-term, sustainable, high-level of football.”