Ruben Amorim has been blasted across social media after footage emerged of him using coaching magnets in the dugout during Manchester United’s defeat to Grimsby Town in the second round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
Amorim, 40, looked to be experimenting with tactics on the bench in the 62nd minute of the Red Devils’ defeat to the League Two side – with Grimsby winning 12-11 on penalties despite two late goals from United’s Bryan Mbeumo and Harry Maguire.
It marked the first time in the club’s 147-year history that they had lost to opposition in the fourth tier of English football.
As a result, the Portuguese manager was quickly ridiculed on social media as football fans reveled in United’s misery – after he could not bare to watch the shootout.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, a number of users were quick to put their own twist on Amorim’s antics after United suffered the ignominious fate on an early cup exit.
Others compared the image to the Daily Mail’s famous ”wally with a brolly” back page, when England boss Steve McClaren looked on forlornly in the rain as his side slipped to a defeat against Croatia that cost them a place at Euro 2008.
Ruben Amorim has been blasted across social media after footage emerged of him using coaching magnets in the dugout during Manchester United ‘s defeat to Grimsby
One image showed the tactics board swapped out for the popular game Operation – which requires players to use tweezers to remove plastic ailments from a board without touching the metal sides.
Comedian Jonny Sharples posted a photoshopped picture of a Pokemon trading card album, joking that the Portuguese manager was more interested in card collecting than coaching his team.
The trading card game based on the Pokemon franchise was originally published in Japan in 1996, before coming to the UK in 1999.
Since then, over 30 billion cards have been printed, with some rarer cards being sold by collectors for thousands of pounds.
A further super-imposed photo saw him playing the game of Guess Who? which sees two players take turns asking questions to identify their opponent’s secret character.
Using ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions, players win by gradually eliminating possibilities from their own board by closing doors on characters that do not fit the answer.
Another showed him to be a new-found knitting expert, as he was seen imaginarily creating a red, white and green scarf.
One more image pictured Amorim as a DJ, as one user joked that he was about to ‘drop the nastiest set at Creamfields’.
Others compared the image to the Daily Mail’s famous ‘wally with a brolly’ back page, when Steve McClaren looked on forlornly in the rain as his side slipped to a defeat against Croatia that cost them a place at Euro 2008
Speaking after the loss, Amorim apologised to United fans for his side’s early exit, which realistically leaves them with only the FA Cup still to win this season – and the month of August not yet over.
Amorim said: ‘I just have to say sorry to our fans. The way we started the game, we were not even here.
‘When everything is so important in our club, everything that happened, it’s a problem in our club, we should do so much better.
‘In the penalties, the feeling is the same. I think football was really fair today – the best team won.
‘It should be my job to understand what happened. Again, I’m really sorry for our fans.
‘The support that they have given me, always with all of the defeats they always help the team. Today I have nothing to say. I am really sorry. It’s too much sometimes.
‘I think the best team won, the only team that was on the pitch. The best players lose because one team can win against any group of players, and I think the team and the players spoke really loud today, so that’s it.’
Grimsby’s reward for knocking out United is a trip to Sheffield Wednesday, who also beat Premier League opposition in surprising fashion by defeating Leeds United.
The third round fixtures will take place across two weeks, beginning on September 15 and September 22 with Champions League and Europa League fixtures also taking place throughout these weeks.
However, United will not be a part of the next round of the competition in a humbling result that realistically leaves Amorim’s side with just the FA Cup to contend for less than a month into the new campaign.
The men from Old Trafford are also yet to win a competitive match this season with a defeat and a draw from their opening two Premier League matches so far.
United are next in action on Saturday as they welcome Burnley to Old Trafford.
It is an encounter that takes on even more significance for Amorim in what is surely now a must-win game if he wants to stop an interminable rot setting in.
