Manchester United have sacked boss Ruben Amorim, the club have confirmed.

The announcement was made on Monday morning less than 24 hours after Amorim held a stunning news conference following the 1-1 draw with Leeds United in which he urged United bosses to “do your jobs.”

Club sources have denied that the decision was prompted by a breakdown in Amorim’s relationship with director of football Jason Wilcox, but rather because the hierarchy “have not seen enough signs of evolution of progress.”

However, it’s hard to escape the sense that the timing of the move has much to do with Amorim’s news conference at Elland Road and particularly the barbs aimed at the club and Wilcox.

Speaking at a news conference on Friday ahead of the trip to Leeds, the Portuguese coach revealed his frustration at a lack of movement in the January transfer window.

And after the game on Sunday, he went one step further by telling club bosses he wants to be “manager, not the coach” while also pointedly aiming a dig at Wilcox to “do his job.”

Club sources have told ESPN that, as far as they were concerned, Amorim was “fully aligned” with their transfer plan.

They insist the decision has been made to “give a capable and committed squad the best chance of being successful.”

Amorim has overseen a turbulent 14 months at United after succeeding Erik ten Hag as boss in November 2024.

He won 24 of his 63 matches in charge and oversaw just 15 victories in the Premier League.

He leaves United sixth in the Premier League table after eight wins from 20 games this season.

Current Under-18s boss Darren Fletcher is set to take over ahead for the trip to Burnley on Wednesday.

– Ruben Amorim calls out Man United bosses: ‘Do your jobs’
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– Gary Neville compares Ruben Amorim outburst to Enzo Maresca

A club statement issued on Monday read: “Ruben Amorim has departed his role as Head Coach of Manchester United.

“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.

“This will give the team the best opportunity of the highest possible Premier League finish.

“The club would like to thank Ruben for his contribution to the club and wishes him well for the future.”

Video assistant referee causes controversy every week in the Premier League, but how are decisions made and are they correct?

This season, we take a look at the major incidents to examine and explain the process both in terms of VAR protocol and the Laws of the Game.

Screenshot credit: NBC

Andy Davies (@andydaviesref) is a former Select Group referee, with over 12 seasons on the elite list, working across the Premier League and Championship. With extensive experience at the elite level, he has operated within the VAR space in the Premier League and offers a unique insight into the processes, rationale and protocols that are delivered on a Premier League matchday.

Referee: Craig Pawson
VAR: Andrew Madley
Time: 57 minutes
Incident: Overturn of Florian Wirtz‘s goal after it was ruled out for offside

What happened: Wirtz picked up a through ball into the Fulham penalty area and neatly scored past goalkeeper Bernd Leno, only for assistant referee Lee Betts to flag him offside.

VAR decision/review: It took some time, but VAR checked the on-field decision of no goal, and established that Wirtz was in an onside position before recommending that the goal was awarded.

Verdict: With the naked eye, it seemed that Wirtz had strayed into an offside position and the assistant was correct to disallow the goal. In fact, even the still TV footage left many agreeing that offside was the correct outcome.

However, the Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) review produced a different decision.

If you remember back when VAR first arrived, lines were drawn manually by a human VAR and their assistant. But since the last few matchdays of the 204-25 season, SAOT has taken control of judging if players are in an on/offside position, using tracking data as opposed to live footage. That is meant to give far greater accuracy and speed in key moments.

#FULLIV – 57′ VAR OVERTURN

VAR checked the referee’s call of no goal – and established that Wirtz was in an onside position and recommended that the goal was awarded. pic.twitter.com/AA3eq6pT9j

— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) January 4, 2026

But there are two key elements to this process that are unique to the Premier League vs. many leagues in Europe and the UEFA Champions League (UCL).

First, the Premier League uses Genius Sports technology SAOT system (also used in Belgium, Mexico and Brazil), which is a different system to that used in UCL and many of the big domestic leagues across Europe. Indeed, those leagues across Europe measure offside positions to the millimeter; the Premier League allows a tolerance level of 5 centimeters.

That, in theory, allows for less marginal decisions against the attacking team (as we saw in the early stages of VAR when lines were drawn on top of each other), with the rationale of creating more goals.

The Wirtz situation is a perfect example of this. As the Liverpool striker is within the “thicker” offside band under the Premier League system, the player is deemed to be onside; but in a UCL match, using stricter guidance with no 5cm tolerance, Wirtz would be deemed offside and the goal would have been disallowed.

Despite the application of SAOT, there is still a human element when a tight offside is being reviewed by VAR, which is the reason why the check at Fulham was relatively long.

The SAOT system will identify and recommend the “Kick Point” (the exact moment ball is played forward in the final pass before it reaches Wirtz), however it is at the discretion of the VAR to confirm they are happy with this, otherwise they will ask for the point to be moved a micro-frame either way.

Undoubtedly, it was this essential element of the process which caused the delay in the check, with the VAR uncomfortable that the original option was correct.

The Wirtz situation is not the first time the SAOT tolerance level has impacted things in the Premier League: Bruno Guimarães was in a similar position before Newcastle United‘s goal from Harvey Barnes against Manchester City in November, while Gabriel Gudmundsson was also ruled to be onside as Lukas Nmecha scored for Leeds United against Aston Villa in the same month.

The final game of the 2025 NFL regular season may have been the best one, and it came down to the final seconds.

Twenty-seven points were scored in the fourth quarter instead of 30, as Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop missed what would have been a walk-off field goal to send the Ravens to the playoffs.

Instead, the AFC North title went to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had their fair share of miraculous efforts in the fourth quarter, while the Ravens’ season ended in heartbreak.

It’s no secret the face of the Ravens, Lamar Jackson, had not been himself this entire season, but he made his best play of the campaign — and maybe his career — midway through the fourth quarter. On third-and-4 from midfield and trailing by three, Jackson evaded a sack and let one fly to Zay Flowers, who caught it in stride for the long touchdown to give the Ravens a 17-13 lead. The Steelers weren’t sweating, though, as they responded with an eight-play drive that ended with a touchdown by Kenneth Gainwell to take a 20-17 lead with 3:49 to go. But apparently, Jackson saved his best for last, finding Flowers again, this time for 64 yards to go up 24-20 with 2:20 remaining.

The Steelers quickly got across midfield, and on third-and-10, Aaron Rodgers found Calvin Austin wide open for a score with 55 seconds to go. However, Chris Boswell missed the extra point, and it was just a two-point lead. The Ravens took the kickoff to their own 47-yard line and had three timeouts — a golden opportunity.

RAIDERS’ JAMAL ADAMS, GIANTS’ JAMEIS WINSTON GET IN SCREAMING MATCH DURING HEATED MOMENT ON SIDELINE

Jackson completed his first pass, but after an illegal formation and two incompletions, he faced a fourth-and-7. Jackson threw up a prayer, and Isaiah Likely high-pointed it for an unbelievable catch. Jackson took a knee to set up the field goal unit in the middle of the hashes with two seconds left, but it was for naught, as the Steelers were the ones celebrating a wide-right kick.

Aaron Rodgers of the Pittsburgh Steelers celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass during the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at Acrisure Stadium on Jan. 4, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  (Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

The scoring got started from an unlikely source, as Lamar Jackson found Devontez Walker for a 38-yard touchdown to take the early lead. Both teams then exchanged punts before the Steelers turned the ball over on downs, and the Ravens took advantage by kicking a field goal to go up 10-0 early in the second quarter. Pittsburgh answered with a field goal of its own for its first score.

In the final seconds of the first half, the Steelers benefited from a defensive penalty that put them at the 2-yard line with two seconds left. They opted to go for the touchdown instead of a field goal, but the decision backfired, as Kenneth Gainwell was stuffed as the clock hit zero.

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Thankfully for them, the Steelers got the ball to start the second half, and they did not let their opening drive go to waste, finding the end zone to tie the game at 10. Then, in his first game back from a collapsed lung, T.J. Watt caught a batted ball at the line for an interception. Pittsburgh then added a field goal for its first lead of the game.

Connor Heyward (83) of the Pittsburgh Steelers celebrates a touchdown with Pat Freiermuth (88) during the third quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at Acrisure Stadium on Jan. 4, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  (Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

The Steelers, with 42-year-old Rodgers and a head coach in Mike Tomlin whom fans were ready to give up on, finished the season at 10-7 and will host the Houston Texans on Monday night in the wild-card round.

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