Amorim sack date set after Ratcliffe 'yardstick' reveals five brutal Man Utd fixtures to save his job

While many would have sent Ruben Amorim packing from Manchester United already and almost all others would see an inevitable defeat to high-flying Sunderland on Saturday as the final straw, amid reports claiming that Sir Jim Ratcliffe will give the Portuguese boss a full season as he fails to come to terms with yet another Old Trafford mistake, Amorim is indeed set to survive the upcoming international break.

But in clarifying the full-season “yardstick” Ratcliffe and Ineos will use to decide his future, journalist Ben Jacobs has confirmed his sacking in the next international break.

“Ruben Amorim, I think, doesn’t have that many games to turn things around,” Jacobs said. “I’m not so sure, despite the fact that I respect other reports, that it’s as clear-cut as he’ll get a full season. Speaking to people in and around the club, he’ll get 38 games split across two seasons and they’ll use that somewhat as a yardstick.”

Having now infamously won just 34 points from his first 33, Amorim has five games to save his job, or five to see out before his escape, depending how he’s looking at things.

Sunderland (H)

It will have been seen as an absolute banker by Manchester United fans trawling the fixture list at the start of the season. An Old Trafford clash against newly-promoted Sunderland, who have beaten United just twice in the Premier League in 30 meetings, losing 22 of them, since Michael Gray and John Mullin goals earned them all three points in March 1997, give it a tick and move on.

But six games into the season we’re wondering if there is a worse fixture for Amorim and United to be playing. Sunderland are sixth having conceded just four goals in those six games, and while no-one expects them to hold that position, there also won’t be many still considering them as relegation candidates. They’ve got good players, a good manager and crucially – in stark contrast to United – are a team.

And yet, they are still Sunderland. They’ve still only just come up, they’ve still got plenty of players in their first Premier League season, just like their manager. It would therefore still be written up as a disaster of biblical proportions if United were to lose to them.

Can’t have that though – Amorim’s got to make it through another four games. A 1-1 draw. Harry Maguire equaliser in stoppage time.

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Liverpool (A)

The 2-2 draw at Anfield last season ushered in Amorim’s best/only half-decent spell as United boss. It was a timely result on the back of defeats to Tottenham, Bournemouth and Wolves, and preceded five wins in six games, including the 6-4 victory over Arsenal in the FA Cup a week later.

Amorim said afterwards that he was “upset” United didn’t claim all three points, but while we’re all doing our level best to insist Premier League leaders Liverpool are currently in the midst of a mini-crisis and defeat to Chelsea on Saturday would ensure a full-blown one for us all to ruminate over for the international break, it’s hard to imagine the level of catastrophe required for Arne Slot’s side not to beat United at Anfield.

“Who doesn’t cause Konate problems right now?” Jamie Carragher asked after Victor Osimhen ran rings around him in another calamitous showing from one of the top ten slumping Premier League players against Galatasaray. Enter Dr. Sesko.

No goals for United then and there’s nothing like a game against United to break Mohamed Salah out of a funk. Hat-trick for him. 0-4.

Brighton (H)

This fixture last season was very nearly the end of Amorim, who had reportedly become so ‘disenchanted’ with life at United after a run of one Premier League win in six culminated in the 3-1 defeat to the Seagulls at Old Trafford that he was ‘prepared to resign’ and had to be talked off the ledge by the United bosses.

Despite there being ‘no formal move to quit’ after the game in January, the Portuguese head coach ‘had to be reassured by senior figures at the club, including CEO Omar Berrada, that he would be backed to turn the team’s fortunes around.’

We don’t know how Amorim could see a summer in which United failed to sign a new No.6 or No.1 as one in which he received sufficient backing, but it feels as though he’s been on the brink of resignation as well as the sack pretty much ever since.

Fabian Hurzeler has already led Brighton to victories over Manchester City and Chelsea this season. 1-2.

Nottingham Forest (A)

Ange Postecoglou being sacked twice before Ruben Amorim after beating him in the Europa League final is both brilliant and famously unjust in equal measure, if it wasn’t definitely actually slightly more brilliant than unjust.

That currently looks very likely to be the case after he was jeered off by Nottingham Forest fans on Thursday following his fourth defeat as manager in six winless games. He wasn’t “sacked in the morning” but surely will be next week if they fail to turn Newcastle over on Sunday.

Amorim is f***ed either way. Ange got the better of him three times last season – 1-0 wins in the UEL final and the Premier League and a 4-3 in the League Cup quarter-final. United also lost both games to Forest and if Ange has gone then they may still be in the midst of a new manager bounce, which they’re due having experienced more of a splat post Nuno-Espirito Santo.

Please, for the love of all that is great and holy, let it be Erik ten Hag guiding his new team to a 1-0 victory.

READ MORE: Man Utd penny-pinching, Postecoglou pain keeps Amorim second in sack race

Tottenham (A)

United haven’t beaten Tottenham in their last seven meetings, losing five of them, and if current Brentford boss Keith Andrews can “out-school” Amorim after a full eight games as a professional football manager we can only assume that former Brentford manager Thomas Frank – widely regarded as one of the very finest tacticians around – will teach him a sack-ensuring lesson in north London.

Kobbie Mainoo to score a consolation as the last United goal in the Amorim era from the bench. 4-1.

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