How Ratcliffe & INEOS have failed at Man Utd - Part 2: Managerial moves

At Flashscore, we looked back over the last two years and saw how INEOS has got things wrong time and again. Inevitably, the head coach is always on the chopping block, and although Michael Carrick is safe for at least another week, he is a dead man walking and will be the next to pay for the incompetence above him. But how did Man Utd reach a point where they face their second relegation battle since INEOS joined the club?

When assessing that period and their time as minority owners, we looked at player recruitment and head coach appointments and sackings. Following Part 1, which analysed their poor player recruitment, this second article dives into INEOS' managerial sackings and appointments.

Read Part 1 about player recruitment here!

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Managerial sackings and appointments 

As mentioned in Part 1, when INEOS purchased a minority stake in Man Utd in February 2024, Erik ten Hag was the manager. And the first big decision they had was whether they were going to bring in their own coach as opposed to the coach the Glazers appointed.

At that stage, however, qualifying for the Champions League was very much a possibility, and Ten Hag was still relatively popular after his success the previous season. However, the club's abysmal Champions League exit was concerning - quite simply, the honeymoon period was over for the Dutchman. 

By the end of the campaign, Man Utd finished the season on just 60 points, losing a staggering 14 games, shipping 58 goals, and scoring just 57 all season. Calls for Ten Hag to go were loud, and the media reported that he was set to be sacked after the FA Cup final against Manchester City.

This brings us to INEOS' first unforgivable mistake.

When Man Utd stunned their city rivals to win the 2023/24 FA Cup, INEOS surrendered to supporter emotion by keeping the Dutchman after one of the best days in the club's recent memory.

They then backed him to spend in the summer, which could be seen as backing their manager and saying 'We trust you', but the media briefings before the FA Cup final already told a different story.

So when, almost exactly two years ago, they sacked Ten Hag after a miserable start to the 2024/25 season, INEOS were essentially admitting they got it wrong, and if it wasn't obvious already, Ten Hag had been walking a tightrope ever since the FA Cup final.

The decision to then pay Sporting £11m and appoint Ruben Amorim was brave. INEOS now had their man, and on paper they now had one of the most talented coaches in the game. Amorim had broken Benfica and Porto's dominance in Portugal, and his Sporting side were off to an impressive start in that season's Champions League campaign.

However, his 3-4-3 system would have alarmed supporters from the outset because a three-at-the-back formation has rarely succeeded in England and is not in line with the traditional Man Utd 'DNA'.

However, aside from January signing and natural wingback Patrick Dorgu, the squad wasn't suited to Amorim's system, and that was telling as Man Utd went from bad to worse under Amorim and flirted with relegation for much of the second half of the campaign.

The Portuguese coach was already on thin ice but had a chance for some redemption after guiding the Red Devils to a Europa League final. However, a tepid defeat to Premier League rivals Spurs in the final was a dark day for the club. INEOS once again stuck with their man despite the evidence that Amorim wouldn't adapt to a league where stubbornness simply doesn't work.

As they did with Ten Hag, Man Utd backed Amorim and his system in the summer before sacking him in January 2026 after just 14 months in charge. INEOS once again stuck with a manager too long and wasted money on system-specific signings unlikely to fit into any future coach's model.

Michael Carrick came in mid-January 2026 as interim boss, and the former Man Utd midfielder did a good job of taking things back to basics. He went to a more familiar 4-3-3, brought Kobbie Mainoo back into the team and played Bruno Fernandes in his best position at number 10. It worked: Man Utd went from sixth to a third-placed finish and Champions League qualification. 

However, if you remove the understandable supporter emotion, the obvious decision was to thank Carrick for his brilliant job and hire a coach with a more proven CV to take the next step. Despite impressive results, Carrick peaked performance-wise in his first two games against Man City and Arsenal, and by the end of the season, holes were starting to appear.

Nobody could have seen the situation getting so bad so quickly in the ongoing season, but it shouldn't come as a total surprise, especially after an underwhelming summer window. Carrick has looked out of his depth this season, and Man Utd have broken records for the wrong reasons.

Eight games into the Premier League campaign, Carrick's side have won just once and sit one point above the relegation zone - their worst start to a season in 40 years.

It is as bad as it ever has been under INEOS but also a familiar position for co-owners who seem to have somehow taken Man Utd backwards on the pitch since taking over football operations from the Glazers. And what makes it even more incredible is that they are currently refusing to sack another coach whose writing is on the wall.

After a dismal 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth, the Stretford End appeared to be saying goodbye to Carrick as they sang his name and the head coach looked close to tears as he gave his farewell lap.

Incredibly, INEOS mistook that gesture for supporters wanting Carrick to stay. In a crisis meeting on Monday morning, they decided to give him 'the chance to turn the club's season around', despite the entire footballing world expecting him to go.

It was the latest in a long line of INEOS mistakes, as Sir Jim Ratcliffe threatens to throw another season in the bin out of pure stubbornness and an inability to face up to his mistakes.

Verdict - Since joining the club in February 2024, INEOS have got it badly wrong regarding both managerial appointments and the timing of managerial sackings. Amorim's time at Sporting evidenced that you either give him exactly what he wants and the time to do it, or it won't work.

Also, hiring a coach with such a specific system and style of play contradicted Berrada's message around Man Utd having a clear 'football identity', and any appointed manager would have to buy into it when he first came in as CEO.

With Erik ten Hag, Ruben Amorim and Michael Carrick, INEOS have taken too long to pull the trigger. Sticking with a manager and being loyal to him isn't necessarily a bad thing, but that's not what INEOS did.

They have made it public that their coach was almost sacked before timidly backing them for a while longer and then ultimately pulling the trigger when things inevitably reach breaking point.

From their indecisiveness with sacking coaches to selling a 'football identity' dream which has proven to be a complete lie, INEOS and the people they hired to make informed decisions have got managerial appointments and sackings badly wrong. Leaving us with little faith that INEOS will get the next appointment right when Carrick inevitably faces the sack weeks or months later than he should have.

Perhaps instead of failing to read the room regarding Carrick, INEOS should have listened more closely to what supporters think about Jason Wilcox when they voiced their displeasure against Bournemouth. Then they might realise they need to replace Wilcox with someone competent before getting yet another managerial appointment wrong.

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