RUBEN AMORIM was furious with how Manchester United director of football Jason Wilcox treated him in their infamous Friday meeting.
United sources claimed Amorim “blew up” in response to feedback from Wilcox, and stressed that he was Amorim’s “biggest supporter”.
However, Amorim – who SunSport can reveal cost the club £30million – was incensed with the critical tone of Wilcox, who a source said questioned the former United coach’s tactics.
It is also understood that Wilcox told Amorim he was not of the same pedigree as other specific coaches.
That may have accounted for Amorim name-dropping Thomas Tuchel, Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho in his final press conference outburst when he demanded to be known as the “manager”.
United sources say Wilcox was Amorim’s boss and entitled to give him feedback.
Amorim was in an unusually downbeat mood at his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, when he hinted at issues behind the scenes.
United won three of Amorim’s last 11 games in charge and the Portuguese boss has left with the lowest win percentage of any United manager in the Premier League era.
When asked if anything had changed and whether he still felt confidence from the board on Sunday, Amorim replied: “To start with that, I noticed that you received selective information about everything.
“I came here to be the manager of Manchester United, not to be the coach of Manchester United. And that is clear.
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Ruben Amorim SACKED
Ruben Amorim has been SACKED as manager of Manchester United!
The Portuguese boss has been involved in a war of words with the club hierarchy in recent days, hitting out at transfer policy and his postition as ‘coach’ rather than ‘manager’.
Now he is gone – with the likes of Gareth Southgate and Enzo Maresca among the favourites to take over at Old Trafford.
Man Utd currently sit sixth in the table but Amorim hardly set the world alight at the club.
In fact, he leaves with the WORST win rate in the Premier League of any permanent boss – just 31.9 per cent.
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“I know that my name is not Tuchel, it’s not Conte, it’s not Mourinho, but I’m the manager of Manchester United.
“And it’s going to be like this for 18 months or when the board decides to change. That was my point.
“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.”
SunSport revealed that the majority of United players are unhappy that Amorim was sacked.
Well-placed sources say Amorim was popular with the players and retained the backing of most of the squad members.
United players were informed of Amorim’s departure on Monday morning but a source close to the dressing room said that the players felt his sacking had been coming for a few days.
A number of United players expressed their gratitude to Amorim on their social media accounts throughout Monday.
