Ruben Amorim was a shambles at Man Utd from start to finish and Old Trafford chiefs should feel embarrassed

After being flattered, he informed United that he was keen on the job. However, with a catch: he wanted to wait until the end of the season, so he could spend the summer working with his new players and getting them adjusted to his 3-4-3 system.

Except the Red Devils hierarchy didn't want to wait. They told Amorim that it was now or never, backing him into a corner in the process. In the end he relented but, ever since, shambles after shambles has followed.

Amorim never looked remotely comfortable in the United dugout. His departure of Monday comes after an explosive press conference outburst, where he called out his superiors and suggested he wasn't getting enough support.

It is understood, however, that United were inclined to sack him even before that astonishing rant. Wednesday's 1-1 draw against Wolves was the final nail in his coffin instead, with the Red Devils board adamant that he should be getting more from his squad - regardless of how many players were missing.

Amorim arrived with a big smile and a warning. He told United supporters there would be pain amid potential, that a storm would come even amid some bright days. Sunny skies never ultimately arrived, though, and the brutal fact of the matter is that the head coach did well to last as long as he did.

Immediately, he stunned supporters and pundits with his brutal treatment towards Marcus Rashford. Admittedly, the forward had started to become infuriatingly inconsistent. But Rashford was still a crown jewel in United's attacking arsenal, a player with talent worth building around and one boasting some impressive statistics to back all that up.

Yet Amorim immediately made the England international an enemy instead of an ally. He shipped Rashford on loan to Aston Villa and then again to Barcelona back in the summer. One of the club's brightest prospects was dismissed and discarded, essentially thrown away.

Rashford isn't the only player he didn't deem up to his standards. There was conflict with Alejandro Garnacho before his departure to Chelsea. His decision to continously look the talented Kobbie Mainoo, too, raised many eyebrows.

Then there was his stubborness with his 3-4-3 system. Amorim once said not even the Pope could make him change his ways.

But in the weeks leading up to his departure, change did indeed take place. Amorim started to revert to a 4-3-3 system following discussions with Jason Wilcox behind the scenes, obviously against his better judgement.

The minute that happened, the 40-year-old's behaviour changed. He started becoming more and more outspoken, regardless of the backlash it would inevitably bring. Before the draw with Leeds, he suggested United had informed him that players wouldn't be brought in with the purpose of nailing that system. That, in his eyes, wasn't good enough.

Yet what did Amorim really expect? Football is a results business and, quite frankly, he didn't get enough positive ones during his 14 months in the dugout.

There were so many disastrous defeats, none more so than August's Carabao Cup exit at the hands of Grimsby Town. The sight of him messing around with a tactics board, and refusing to watch the penalty shootout unfold, saw him become a laughing stock on social media. The Europa League final defeat to Ange Postecoglou's poor Tottenham was another nightmare as well.

Amorim leaves having won just 24 of his 63 games in charge, leaving him with a win percentage of 38.1 per cent. For that reason alone, few will shed any tears at his departure.

Yet it is his superiors who should face equal scrutiny. Because Wilcox, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Omar Berrada haven't just made mere mistakes, they've ensured the club have stooped from chaos to catastrophe, new low to new low.

They knew Amorim was wedded to his system. Therefore, telling him to change it - via a 'constructive feedback' session - was always going to risk trouble.

United supremos also knew Amorim didn't have the right players to implement his preferred system. While he's been backed, they were still well short. Telling him he wouldn't get reinforcements this January basically signalled that they didn't have enough faith in him to spend more money. That, without a doubt, left their manager feeling angry and frustrated.

They should never have stuck with Ten Hag when he won the FA Cup in 2023. They should never have stuck with Amorim after he lost the Europa League final to Tottenham last May, too.

United are a club in crisis. Just as they start to make progress on the field, trouble off it derails them.

Who ends up inheriting this latest mess remains to be seen.