RUBEN AMORIM SAYS Manchester United told him it was “now or never” after requesting to finish the season with Sporting rather than immediately take over the only club he had his heart set on joining.
A week that started with Erik ten Hag being sacked following a disappointing start to his third season in charge ended with the exciting appointment of the talented 39-year-old as head coach.
Amorim has agreed a contract until June 2027, with the option for a further year, and will begin work at United on Monday 11 November having overseen Sporting’s final matches before the international break.
The former Portugal international leaves in an €11 million (£9.2m) deal and gave an in-depth rundown of the situation after masterminding Friday’s 5-1 league win at home to Estrela da Amadora.
“I had a talk with the president (Frederico Varandas) and I said whatever happened this would be my last season with Sporting,” Amorim said in the post-match press conference. “The president is here. He can confirm that.
“The season started, we know that we started very well. and then this situation with Manchester United came.
“Manchester United appear, they pay above the compensation clause and the president defends the club’s interests. I never discussed anything with the president about this bargaining.
“The only question I made was only to go in the end of the season. For three days I said I wanted to stay until the end of the season, but then I was told it was not possible.
“It was now or never, or Manchester would go for another option.
“So, I had three days to make my mind up, to make a decision that changes radically my life. But I had three days to make this decision and that’s what I did.
“I’ve had other opportunities – the president and (director of football) Hugo Viana can confirm this. It’s not the first or the second time that I have been requested by another team and I don’t want another team.
“After Sporting I wanted that one, Manchester, and I want that context because that context allows me to do things my way and the club believes me that way. It’s just like Sporting.
“There’s a time when I have to take a step forward in my career. That’s what happened.
“It was harder for me than to any Sporting fan, believe me, but I had to do this.”
Amorim continued in a lengthy, impassioned first answer press conference: “I mean, let’s not go around the bush.
“There was a club that said that if I rejected it now in six months I wouldn’t get it, and I knew that in six months I will leave Sporting, so I did not want to regret not making this decision.
“I know it was a disappointment to the Sporting fans and not take the risk or wait for the end of the season, and then I wouldn’t have the only club I wanted to coach.
“The president knows about this because I had other offers and I didn’t want them before, but this one I did want so I made my decision.
“But now I go home more happier because I have explained. People say, ‘It’s about the money’, but there was another team that wanted to hire me before and they paid three times more than Manchester.”
Amorim stressed it was hard to leave a club he loves but, having flip-flopped on his decision, said he would have regretted letting the chance to manage United pass him by.
The 39-year-old understands that some Sporting fans are angry with his decision and was grateful for the standing ovation he received before Viktor Gyokeres struck four goals in the defeat of Estrela.
Amorim promised not to sign the Sweden international or any other Sporting players in January, but confirmed his coaching staff would be joining him in England.
Assistants Carlos Fernandes and Adelio Candido are ready to join him at Old Trafford, with Emanuel Ferro, Jorge Vital and Paulo Barreira also reportedly set to move.
“I will take my staff with me,” Amorim said. “That was always one of my conditions.
“I brought them since Casa Pia, the first club that I coached. For the moment, I’m focused on the games, I’m here to defend Sporting. That’s it to the end.”
So… referees are fully aware that key players are targeted… yet this referee sent Clifford off anyway? Ref needs to be sanctioned. Awful decision.
@lambda sensor: Clifford’s sending off was pure Mickey Harte tactics, take out the man who could cost you the game. It’s the Tyrone backroom team who should be sent off.
@lambda sensor: not Refs, Tyrone backroom team for getting Clifford sent off
To be fair, if a ref or an umpire only sees the scuffle after it’s started how are they to know who started it. Really unfair on refs or umpires. It’s getting to the stage a second ref on the field would be of great benefit.
@Brian: there’s a very high percentage chance that the forward in this case didn’t start it. Why would he? He’s playing well, he’s on a card and even though he’s a young lad he comes across as a very mature player & is the team captain. Right or wrong since a ball was first thrown in a corner back is going to make a new marker welcome or if it’s a new defender he’s going to let the forward know he’s on. If those umpires don’t know that, they have no right to be in that position
@my name: I agree wholeheartedly but you can’t book or send somebody off based on paercentages. It would be open season for corner forwards. Do they have 2 refs in Aussie rules??
@my name: Clifford is captain by default let’s not forget. If Kerry were like every other county would he be captain? I doubt it. If you can find one criticism with Clifford it’s that he does get in involved and bites back, I’d say he’s yet to mature as a player. He done himself no favours with his reaction to being sent off. The person I feel sorry for in all this is Peter harte, exact same thing happens him and there will be no mention of it
@Brian: but those percentages is basically was the referee committee is talking about when saying “stand out players are targeted” (words to that effect). While I’m all for referees going by the book, in cases like this they really need to use common sense. Clifford in this case has absolutely nothing to gain while he’s on a card
@Mel Roberts: the original post I replied to made no mention of Harte though Mel so neither did I.
However, if as you say the same thing happened I didn’t see it on the Sunday Game last night and the programme made no reference to it, then there is also a case to be answered in PH’s defence as obviously he’s a key player for Tyrone too. But let’s be honest about this, both players were told to act in the way they did to get a reaction from Clifford & Harte. Surely that’s a bigger issue
@my name: Johnny Cooper does it, Philly McMahon does it, Ronan McNamee does it, Ryan mcmenamen made a career out if it. Every single team has a player that will do anything to get a reaction out of opposition players. It’s not something new and it’s not just a problem with one county. I don’t really know how they can stamp out this kind of thing to be honest, and sometimes forwards are every bit as bad as the defenders, Clifford can dish it out as well
@Mel Roberts: look I’m a fully paid up member of the corner back club Mel and I’ve certainly made a forward welcome into the game, never made county though. You’re given a license to do it though Mel. I’m not blaming Mickey or Peter Keane on inventing this, like you say every team has that player, but officials need to know what the dogs on the street know
@my name: the problem is half these refs have never kicked ball or they are too worried about ticking off boxes for assessors
@Mel Roberts: the only proof we have about Peter Harte’s supposed injustice is your “unbiased” opinion. There is video evidence of what happened in the Clifford incident, which is clear as day.
@Mel Roberts: that’s the problem and most can’t keep up with the play for the most part
@Billy Boy: there’s nothing supposed about it, Peter hartes tracking back and Kerry defender decides to mount him and drag him to the ground. Just because the cameras didn’t pick it up doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. If anything the Peter harte one was even more clear cut.
@Mel Roberts: Mel you are a f&&king clueless idiot, stay off this site and let the adults do the talking
@Brian: at elite level (ie The AFL) there are three umpires/referees on the pitch at all times. At club level that can be three as well but it can also be two depending on availability.
Refs have a thankless job. But when they enforce the rules they are crticized for ruining the game . Unfortunately people say let them use common sense and then u get 2 different views on the same tackle. Play to the rule book like in rugby no interpretation
@john s: They look like a shower that were released for week end. Did any of them ever play football, certainly none of them played County Football. They are all lads that would not get on Junior B teams at home, hanging around club rooms and someone sent them on a ” Referees” course to save the club a penalty for not having a Referee.
@john s: sure the rugby lads are always talking about referees interpreting rules in different ways and inconsistencies. It’s the same in every sport.
@Eugene Comaskey: They’re people who love the game. Perhaps ask the GPA why no former IC players are refs. The same 5 or 6 refs do the vast majority of games where I’m from, you see in the local paper that they sometimes do 2 or 3 games per weekend
Cathal mcshane got a nice welcome from the Kerry full back when he came on on Sunday
Some of them umpires have hardly played junior B football & they’re making stupid decisions on lads that have trained hard for years to get where they are. I’m not saying that you have to have played inter county to be an official but it definitely helps to have played at some level to understand what’s going on out on the field rather than being a buddy of the ref. The gaa need to have a serious look at the quality of umpires, some of them are like guys in high viz vests looking to make a name for themselves.
@Danny McCarthy: having umpired myself for a few years and played at a high level, I would say it has very little to do with the level you’ve played at. Easy to spot things on instant replays and from the stands but counter intuitively it’s much harder the closer you get to the action.
Introduce a straight black for dirty off ball stuff directed at people on cards. It’s an attempt at cheating to heavily influence a game’s outcome.
Players like David Clifford are just wasting their talent and skills playing Gaelic Football. He is still young enough to pack in GF and switch to a game where his ability will be financially rewarded
@Maurice Egan: Far more skill in Gaelic football than Aussie rules
At least an additional……
What does this IDIOT mean by ” deliberate rundown of the clock”". If a team who is winning by a point into injury time and they decide to give the ball back to the ‘keeper and he tricks around with , maybe like a soccer ‘ keeper, on the ground, gives it back to a back about two metres away, gives it back to the ‘ keeper etc etc, is that not deliberate rundown of the clock. What Bullshit from this Clown. This crack of adding on time only started in last year or two, time for the Hooter. Referees can actually determine who wins games, and this happened in Croker the other night .
@Eugene Comaskey: there’s time wasting when the ball is dead Eugene, when the ball is in ball that’s game management and that’s part of the game
@Eugene Comaskey: between 71 and 74 minutes, the ball was not in play (check the tape). Time wasting on a free by Monaghan ‘keeper, there was scuffles off the ball and cards handed out. Refs are right to add that back on. Else it encourages time wasting which would be a disaster for the game.
@lambda sensor: I would say that “the game” is well beyond disaster stage, kicking and hand passing the ball backwards is time wasting. Referees – maybe they should change that name to something else – , are the Biggest problems with games. Some tackles in that Dublin game were dot deemed as Frees and some very minor ones were given. Again I say, hardly any of them Refs ever played football , they went to courses and listened to Looneys issuing instructions , and they themselves hadn’t a clue. I happen to know, I was there, I heard them spoofing .