You know things aren't going well for the manager of a big football club when a queue starts to form outside the talkSPORT studio to have a chortling pop at him.
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim didn't get much of a honeymoon period after taking over from Erik ten Hag a year ago.
The Red Devils were in bad shape last October and meandered their miserable way to 15th place and a Europa League final, which they lost to Tottenham Hotspur in Bilbao in May.
With both teams having a dire season in the Premier League, that final felt pivotal. For the winners, a Champions League place and a fresh start. For the losers, the urgent need to rebuild.
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So it proved. Spurs have added some self-inflicted turbulence to the mix but are at least back on a reasonably even keel on the pitch.
United kept faith with Amorim and spent huge money in the summer transfer window while successfully offloading most of their unwanted players, yet the ghosts of 2024-25 still haunt their every match.
Their head coach is under intense scrutiny from every pundit who can find a platform and the longer his seemingly inevitable departure is delayed, the more media voices will put the boot in.
The latest to weigh in is former Sheffield United, Leeds United and Queens Park Rangers boss Neil Warnock, whose extra spicy barb was delivered in the form of an offer to replace him without pay.
"Have you ever laughed as much in your life when he had the Subbuteo table on his lap?" asked Warnock on talkSPORT. Amorim was seen studiously working with a tactics sheet during United's humiliating Carabao Cup exit at Grimsby Town.
"I’m looking at that and thinking 'I cannot believe what he’s just done in front of the cameras’ I’ve seen it all'."
United are in a rut but laughing at a Premier League manager for considering tactics, even if it did come across as a slightly feeble moment, seems a little unkind.
Warnock's solution to Amorim woes
Luckily, decades of football management experience have given the 76-year-old the wisdom to know what's good for the listless giants.
"I’m available if they’re struggling," he added. "I won’t charge you, I’ll do it for nothing. Put my name in the hat."
Warnock left Huddersfield Town in September 2023 and took interim charge of Aberdeen for eight matches in early 2024, winning twice.
Topics: Manchester United, Ruben Amorim, Premier League, Neil Warnock
Chris Nee