Man Utd’s ‘hell of a brains trust’ praised for ‘intelligent’ gamble which will cost another £25m

Man Utd deserve pelters for keeping Erik ten Hag but Ruben Amorim is a ‘sensible’ and ‘intelligent’ choice by the man who brought Eddie Howe to Newcastle.

That’s Amorim
The world knows Dave Kidd secretly wants Man Utd to reappoint Jose Mourinho, but he seems impressed enough by the plan to entice Ruben Amorim to Old Trafford.

‘SIR JIM RATCLIFFE has assembled one hell of a brains trust at Manchester United,’ he writes. And we know this because Ratcliffe has obviously been Photoshopped to resemble Donald Trump at a MAGA rally – the most clever of all things.

‘And it seems, by closing in on Ruben Amorim, that they have started to get brainy. They have started taking intelligent decisions. They are making Manchester United sensible again.’

Well Amorim is no more available now than he was in the summer when Ratcliffe and his ‘hell of a brains trust’ were openly interviewing candidates to replace Erik ten Hag as manager while he was still in the post.

They then activated a one-year option in the Dutchman’s contract, spent another great whack of money on signings seemingly specifically tailored for him, and blundered on for a couple more months before giving him a big pay-out which will likely be equivalent to the amount they will have to give Sporting to meet Amorim’s release clause, thus wasting another transfer window and season.

How ‘intelligent’. How ‘sensible’. But that wasn’t on the ‘the hell of a brains trust’.

‘In the summer, when Ratcliffe made the expensive mistake of handing Ten Hag a new contract after the shock FA Cup final victory over Manchester City, his cabinet hadn’t been fully constructed.’

Well Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox were certainly in place. Omar Berrada officially started about a week after and to be fair, there is absolutely definitely no reason to believe he was working for Man Utd before then. So the call to keep Ten Hag in the first place cannot possibly be pinned on them.

But plumping for Amorim is their decision and clear proof of genius. Kidd, to his credit, does flirt with the idea it might not be an ideal appointment, citing how the coach has barely ever worked outside of Portugal as a player or manager, and how wedded he is to a 3-4-3 system which does not fit this Man Utd squad.

He then, however, forgets all that because of one member of this ‘hell of a brains trust’.

‘But Ashworth, who has led the process of replacing ETH, has a very decent track record for appointing managers.

‘Gareth Southgate for England, Graham Potter for Brighton and Eddie Howe at Newcastle, where his first choice was Unai Emery – now, pound-for-pound, the best manager in the Premier League at Aston Villa.’

You can have Southgate and Potter, but Newcastle’s ‘cabinet hadn’t been fully constructed’ when Howe was appointed; Ashworth joined seven months later.

There is also a glaring omission from that ‘very decent track record’ when it comes to managers. Remember when Ashworth called Ten Hag “one of the most consistently successful coaches in European football” and “the best partner for us to work with in driving up standards and outcomes” after playing a crucial role in the ‘mistake’ that was keeping him? You should; it was only 100 or so days ago.

But hey, Ashworth ‘could get this decision right’ and ‘Sir Jim’s Rat Pack have been impressively decisive in choosing Amorim’.

That is more that can be said for Kidd, whose extensive assessment of every candidate for the job in a piece earlier on Monday mentioned Amorim remarkably fleetingly only to say he ‘was passed over by West Ham as well as Liverpool this summer and is not an easy man to pin down’.

Sounds like the ‘intelligent’ and ‘sensible’ option.

MORE ON THE MAN UTD MESS FROM F365
👉 Ruben Amorim ‘agrees’ Man Utd move as Sporting boss ‘convinced’ Man City a ‘fading force’
👉 Ten Hag ‘deserved better’ than tool-downing players and half-baked backing
👉 The ten worst signings Erik ten Hag made at Manchester United sum up incredible waste

Howe so?
The line about Ashworth consistently nailing managerial choices is weirdly parroted elsewhere on The Sun website in a story about how the ‘Man Utd chief tasked with choosing Ten Hag replacement has incredible hit-rate – with two of his picks in running’.

Again, Southgate and Potter are absolutely fair. But Ashworth did not a) ‘give Eddie Howe the job’ at Newcastle, nor b) make Unai Emery ‘his first-choice at St James’ Park’, because he was still at Brighton.

So all in all, Ashworth’s ‘incredible’ hit rate amounts to one excellent decision for an international team in 2016, and one very good decision for a relegation-battling Premier League side in 2019. Mind you, that is actually relevant for Man Utd in 2024.

Scholes apart
Ashworth will be grateful for the advice of Paul Scholes, an honorary member of the ‘hell of a brains trust’.

”It’s risky’ – Paul Scholes tells Man Utd to hire Ruben Amorim alternative as new manager’ is the Daily Mirror website headline built around this quote.

“Zidane is the one who has been at a major, major club and won major honours. But I am not sure how educated he is with the English language or whether he actually wants to come to England. You never get that feeling with him.”

It’s not the most resounding reference.

READ NEXT: Scholes fires ‘similar to Ten Hag’ warning to Man Utd over Amorim appointment

What’s the matter, Ru?
‘Man Utd manager target Ruben Amorim’s flight to UK for talks – ‘My trip was a mistake” – Daily Mirror website.

What a shame that headline does not quite reflect that said flight to the UK for talks was a) six months ago and b) with West Ham, who are mentioned once in the entire article.

It’s my wife, and it’s now or never
But the true confirmation of Man Utd closing in on a new manager can only come with this…

‘Who is Ruben Amorim? Interior designer wife, huge net worth, footballing relatives’ – Daily Mirror website.

‘Ruben Amorim’s whopping net worth, interior designer wife, football-playing relatives’ – Daily Express website.

‘Inside Man Utd manager target Ruben Amorim’s life from internship with Jose Mourinho to wife’s impressive footie network’ – The Sun.

‘The ‘next Jose Mourinho’ with a wife who gave up engineering to follow his football dream: Ruben Amorim is Man United’s new manager-in-waiting – and set to double his salary to £5m-a-year when he takes football’s toughest job’ – MailOnline.

…tabloid chat about his wife. Welcome to the Premier League, Ruben. It’s not too late to sack off ‘the hell of a brains trust’ and run for the hills.

READ NEXT: Five Sporting players Ruben Amorim should bring with him to fix Manchester United