Ruben Amorim has left Manchester United after 14 months in charge and a post-match tirade which talked him out of the door. One of the biggest jobs in club football is vacant again.

The Portuguese never found his sea legs at Old Trafford and by last night it was obvious that he was as sick of United as some inside United were of him. He teed up his dismissal with coded remarks before a 1-1 draw with Leeds United, and a rant at the end of that game yesterday could only ever end one way.

Under-18s coach Darren Fletcher is taking charge of United in the interim.

According to Associated Press report, Premier League club announced on Monday that Amorim’s reign was over – with the decision coming a day after he made provocative comments about his position following the draw.

“With Manchester United sitting sixth in the Premier League, the club’s leadership has reluctantly made the decision that it is the right time to make a change,” United said in a statement. “This will give the team the best opportunity of the highest possible Premier League finish.”

The countdown started on Saturday when Amorim admitted the 3-4-3 system he had been sticking to with bloody-minded stubbornness wasn’t clicking, nor did he have the players to make it click (prompting the question of why he was sticking with it). At Leeds, he went much further with a stream of petulant comments, hinting at serious friction behind the scenes.

United said youth coach Darren Fletcher would take charge of its match against Burnley on Wednesday.

The Portuguese oversaw a slew of unwanted records at the 20-time English champion including its lowest finish in the Premier League era last season. The United job has proved one of the most difficult in world soccer since club legend Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, with Amorim the sixth permanent manager or coach to be discarded in that time.

Amorim apologised to fans at the end of last season for what he described as a “disastrous” campaign when United finished 15th in the standings, recorded its highest number of losses in a Premier League season and lowest points total.

Last week there were reports that figures at the club had questioned his tactics. On Sunday he sought to clarify his position.

“I came here to be the manager of Manchester United, not to be the coach of Manchester United,” he said. “And that is clear. “I’m not going to quit. I will do my job until another guy is coming here to replace me.”

The Athletic details the strongest of the signals that all was not well. In response to him being asked if levels of internal support were wavering:

“I noticed you receive selective information about everything. I came here to be the manager of Manchester United, not to be the coach of Manchester United. That is clear.”

“It’s going to be like this for 18 months, or when the board decide to change. I want to finish with that. I’m not going to quit. I will do my job until another guy is coming here to replace me.”

“In every department, the scouting department, the sporting director (director of football Jason Wilcox) needs to do their job. I will do mine for 18 months and then we move on.”

Amorim’s contract ran to the end of the 2026-27 season – and there is no clause to enable a discounted exit, meaning United will have to pay up his contract in full.

The idea that the club would gladly allow him to muddle forward for another 18 months and “then move on” was laughable. Football doesn’t work like that. Coaching doesn’t work like that.

And today, The Athletic broke the news that United were pulling the plug.

In the background at Old Trafford was the promise, rashly made by minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe that Amorim would get three years as head coach. No matter what, Ratcliffe said in October, Amorim’s deal was going to run its course.

That might have sounded bold and equivocal but the weakness in the plan was that no coach or manager simply ‘gets’ three years in the Premier League. Results become untenable. Relationships falter. Sticking out a contract to the bitter end is the equivalent of Custer’s last stand, and no strategy at all.

Results under Amorim were so-so at best. They couldn’t string wins together from one week to the next and when it came to the crunch of the Europa League final last season, they went missing.

He was right in saying that United don’t have the resources to fit his favoured formation, but also guilty of labouring that formation regardless. United are sixth in the Premier League, on the coattails of the top four. Watching them play, it’s hard to understand how.

From day one, Amorim and United were an unstable match. The club’s dysfunction and lack of alignment aren’t good for anybody. His public relations and his football did nothing to keep the peace either. There were points before now when United could have ditched him – and the expense of paying him off notwithstanding, they might as well have done so.

A Tell Media report