Goldbridge:United pressure mounting as manager nears last chance

The debate around Manchester United’s direction under Ruben Amorim continues to intensify on The United Stand podcast. Mark Goldbridge pulled no punches as he assessed the situation, warning that “every loss is going to knock this manager further further towards the exit door. I worry about this manager with what he’s got and that midfield. I worry about this manager big big time. Um and I blame Sir Jim.”

Goldbridge underlined that the accountability must not rest solely on Amorim if results collapse. “He has to be sacked. The results are dreadful. But I will remember this moment and I will say it at the time. He may need to be sacked but who caused it?” His frustration reflected a wider theme of recurring mismanagement in United’s transfer planning.

In his assessment, Goldbridge drew comparisons with previous United managers whose projects crumbled due to poor recruitment. He recalled, “I look at Solar’s last summer window and he was gone by Christmas. Yeah, Sancho finally came in. Varane came in. Ronaldo came in. But that Ronaldo signing, did Ollie need Ronaldo, Varane, and Sancho or did he need a midfielder?”

He extended the point to another regime, adding, “I look at Mourinho’s last summer. He just finished second, remember, which he said was the biggest achievement of his career. What did they do for him? Fred and Dowo. That was it. Oh, and Lee Grant. A summer transfer window.” For Goldbridge, the same story is happening again under Amorim.

Turning to the present, Goldbridge expressed concern about the scale and balance of United’s recruitment. “Now, look, Kuna and Burmo are good signings, but anybody that wants to hang their hat on that, shame on you. We finished 15th, lads and ladies. We finished 15th. If you think Ka and Murmo are enough for a good summer transfer window, I would have said we needed eight signings minimum. Five minimum. We’ve had four. So, I think it’s been awful this summer transfer window in my opinion.”

Despite some positives, the missing midfield recruit appears a decisive failure. Goldbridge said, “We needed a midfielder, a good midfielder. We needed a good midfielder and we didn’t get it. And I think it’s going to hurt us now. I think we probably needed more, but that’s where we are.”

Even moments of optimism around potential deals ended in frustration. “Don’t forget Belaba. Like that happened. David Ornstein, man. I mean, you know what, I don’t want to get angry, but that actually happened. Like, we actually had David Ornstein saying Man United are in talks with Belaba. And when David Ornstein says you’re in talks with somebody, 99.9% of the time it ends up with official. We actually were David Ornstein talks with Belaba. At that moment I was so happy. I was like even if we don’t get Belaba we’ll get someone and we end up with nothing.”

As the podcast discussion made clear, the pressure on Amorim is growing. Goldbridge repeated his concerns, this time with a stark warning. “I really do worry about Ruben Amarim’s future. And I say it in a calm way… I’m not ranting. I’m just telling you, calmly what my assessment is.”

For United, history feels like it is looping back once again, with another manager potentially left without the backing to succeed. With Goldbridge emphasising that this could be Amorim’s “last chance”, the frustration from fans is unlikely to ease without results and overdue squad improvements.