Sir Alex Ferguson has already offered a blueprint as to how Manchester United should deal with failing managers like Ruben Amorim.
Ferguson is without a doubt United’s best manager ever, along with Sir Matt Busby. Before leaving in 2013, he managed the Red Devils for 26 years, winning 13 Premier League titles.
Additionally, United has only won five medals in 12 years—two FA Cups, two League Cups, and one Europa League—and has failed to win a single league title since Ferguson’s departure.
With United finishing 15th in the Premier League and losing to Spurs in the Europa League final in the 2024–2025 season, things are arguably at their lowest point in the club’s recent history.
The Red Devils have had a dismal start to 2025–26 in the Premier League, losing 1-0 to Arsenal on the first weekend and drawing 1-1 with Fulham last Sunday.
Following a heartbreaking penalty shootout loss to League Two Grimsby Town on Wednesday, they were eliminated from the League Cup in round two.
Since then, some supporters have demanded that Amorim be fired, but despite rumors that he may be moving to Benfica, he will still be in charge for the match against Burnley at Old Trafford this weekend.
What guidance has “Fergie” offered Man United regarding the current circumstances?
Although he hasn’t spoken out explicitly on Amorim’s future, the Scot did share some advice in a 2012 series of interviews with Anita Elberse, a professor at Harvard Business School.
Ferguson clarified, “At some clubs, you need only to lose three games in a row and you’re fired,” while discussing the foundation a manager needs. With the new generation of directors and owners in the football world today, I doubt any club would have the patience to wait four years for a manager to assemble a team. Winning a game only gives you a temporary advantage because you might lose the following one. Creating a club offers continuity and stability.
Three years later, in 2015, Ferguson spoke to ESPN and maintained that by sticking with a manager, “you get consistency and you get success.”
“There’s no evidence that sacking a manager gives you success,” Ferguson said.
“But there is evidence at Manchester United, at Nottingham Forest, at Arsenal that [if] you retain the manager for long periods, you get consistency and you get success.”
What happens next with Amorim remains to be seen, but based on his previous quotes, it’s fair to say Ferguson believes he should be given at least some more time.
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