‘This is what happened’ – Keith Wyness sheds new light on Ruben Amorim-Jason Wilcox bust-up before Man United sacking
The pressure of being Man United manager became too much of a burden for Ruben Amorim to handle.
That is according to ex-Everton, Aston Villa, and Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who revealed that Amorim “erupted” at Director of Football Jason Wilcox.
Man United sacked Amorim after their 1-1 draw at Leeds, with the Portuguese boss having been in charge since November 2024.
Amorim led Man United to a 15th-placed finish last season, and the Red Devils were sixth when he left the club.
Ruben Amorim couldn’t handle Man United ‘pressure’
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes Amorim had a “breakdown” with Man United which led to his exit.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness thinks Amorim should have been more flexible in his approach as manager.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Look, I wanted to try and think about this really a bit more deeply. The story’s been full of headlines over the last few days, and these sort of things have been very clear, but in terms of the way that he probably had some sort of breakdown, it seems, and it just showed that the pressure of the job really did tell on him, to be fair at the end.
“And while he seemed to want to actually deliver his own particular system and his own formation, he wasn’t prepared to be flexible enough, and it seemed that the powers that be put pressure on him around that. And he just, I think the pressure was just too much. And I think that was always something that people had actually identified at the start of this, saying that, you know, it’s a big job.
“And when you say a big job, it means the media demands, it means the constant 24 seven pressure. It means the quality of decisions that you’re to have to justify, and you have to justify to more than one person sometimes. You have to manage up as well as down, manage the fan base, manage the media.
“There are constant sponsored demands, all those sorts of things. And for Amorim, who’s a bit more of a football purist, it did turn out, I think, to be too much pressure, and it seems he erupted with Jason Wilcox the other day. That seems to be the short-term situation that’s happened.”
Man United confirm interim appointment
Darren Fletcher will take charge of Man United on an interim basis until a new permanent manager is announced.
The former Man United midfielder will begin his spell with a home clash against Burnley at Old Trafford.
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner is an early front-runner for the Man United vacancy, with his contract at Selhurst Park expiring at the end of the season.