Gary Neville couldn’t believe Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s assessment of the job Ruben Amorim has done at Manchester United so far, as the co-owner engaged in some “salary bill” whataboutery.
Ratcliffe took control of football operations at United in February 2024 and his arrival has if anything seen a downturn in results, first under Erik ten Hag and now under Ruben Amorim, who has failed to lift his side from 14th in the Premier League table having taken charge in November.
In his most recent set of interviews, Ratcliffe named five United players in a “not good enough or overpaid” admission and revealed “a couple of errors” in his year at the helm while claiming the club would be “bust by Christmas” without his controversial cost-cutting strategies.
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And in an interview conducted by Gary Neville for Sky Sports, Ratcliffe admitted they made a mistake in sticking with Ten Hag.
“It was too early for us to make a big decision in reality,” Ratcliffe said.
“We hadn’t been together as a team for very long. It was just a matter of weeks and it’s quite a big decision, isn’t it? And also, it’s quite difficult. It was quite difficult to extract in that season when we arrived, Erik’s performance from the structure around him.
“Obviously the structure around [Amorim] now is completely different. There’s a really strong relationship and a really strong support culture for Ruben. Jason and Ruben talk to each other two or three times a day, Omar speaks to Ruben every day, every time I go to the match I speak to Ruben.
“But it was quite difficult to see what environment Erik was operating in. Was it, in other words, was the erratic performance a function of Erik, or was it a function of the organisation? And we couldn’t really get to the bottom of answering that question with certainty, I suppose, so we gave Erik the benefit of the doubt.”
Asked by Neville if he regrets that now, Ratcliffe said: “Yeah, it was the wrong decision. We made the wrong decision. It was an error. So yeah, I suppose in that sense I regret it.
“I think there was some extenuating or mitigating circumstances in having made that decision, but at the end of the day it was the wrong decision, so hands up, me of course on that one.”
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United’s only remaining chance of silverware is the Europa League, with that gong also granting entry into the Champions League next season.
The second leg of their last-16 tie with Real Sociedad is on Thursday at Old Trafford after the first leg finished 1-1.
But Amorim has been criticised for his lack of impact since his arrival at the club, with United rooted in the bottom half of the Premier League having been dumped out of both cup competitions.
Speaking the day after Man Utd’s 1-1 draw at home to Arsenal in the Premier League, Ratcliffe backed the work of Amorim so far.
“I think Ruben has done an excellent job,” said Ratcliffe.
“I really like Ruben. I think in the circumstances… I mean he arrived mid-season, he didn’t have time to train his players in the way in which he wants to play, he inherited a squad which he’s had no influence on, and the squad isn’t necessarily designed for the way in which he plays football, and English isn’t his natural language, and he’s never played in the Premier League before, and he’s managing the biggest club in the world, and it’s a tough place, and he’s a young guy.
“If you take all of that into consideration, I think he’s done a remarkably good job.”
When asked by Neville what parts of the job he is referring to, Ratcliffe said: “I think what he’s got out of the players that he’s got available, I think he’s done well with,”
Neville was taken aback. “Do you?!” he said.
“If I look at the salary bill of the squad that’s available to him, that salary bill is not the salary bill of Manchester City or Liverpool, it’s a fraction of it.
“If you look at the salary bill of the players that are available to him that are not injured, or not out on loan, because we’ve got, you know, we’ve got Antony out on loan, we’ve got [Jadon] Sancho out on loan, we’ve got [Marcus] Rashford out on loan, we’ve got Mason Mount who hasn’t really played in the last two seasons, we’ve got Luke Shaw who hasn’t played in the last two seasons.
“So if you modify our salary bill for the players that are not available to Ruben, then our salary bill ranks us about, you know, middling, second half of the table. We’re sort of level with the likes of a Nottingham Forest or Everton, not a Manchester City one.
“That salary bill, if you look at that salary bill, is probably about £130m, and we’re talking about Liverpool who’s got a salary bill of £200m, Manchester City have got a salary bill of £300m, so that’s the squad that Ruben’s playing with.”
