Sky Sports have been criticised for what some fans have labelled ‘disrespectful’ behaviour towards the new Manchester United boss, Rúben Amorim, during his first post-match interview on the job.
Fans got their first look at Ruben’s Reds on Sunday evening as they travelled to Portman Road for an away match against newly promoted Ipswich Town, only managing to muster a 1-1 draw despite an early goal less than two minutes after kick-off.
The travelling fans will no doubt have felt like they were in dreamland in those opening moments but as the game went on it was clear that this is just the start of what is likely to be a very long process.
Speaking with the Sky Sports presenting panel immediately after the game, one of Amorim’s answers is cut somewhat short Ed Sheeran, of all people, interrupts the interview. A humourous off-the-cuff moment for plenty watching, certainly, but many have called it simply “disrespectful”.
I’m honestly a bit aghast at how rude that was from Ed Sheeran. Amorim should have told them all to get fucked pic.twitter.com/Hjm0VWovdF
It's not an overreaction to say this was incredibly disrespectful by Ed Sheeran. Wait for the interview to finish. Don't care what your standing is in society or who you think you are, have respect & courtesy.
If he wasn't before, Ruben Amorim is very aware of the circus he has… https://t.co/VCwiozieOZ
As you can see, while many took issue more specifically with the popstar and Ipswich fan for inserting himself into the situation mid-question, some were also left criticising Sky themselves for allowing the musician to somewhat derail the discussion with the fledgling Man United manager.
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Not only is Ed Sheeran a lifelong Tractor Boy, but he also happens to own a minority stake in the club and his album artwork features on the current kits, so they will no doubt have been more than keen to hear what he had to say.
Regardless, the interruption proved somewhat fruitless in the end as the singer himself said, “He [Amorim] doesn’t want to talk to me” and the 33-year-old ultimately walked off without contributing anything to the conversation other than adding: “I love being back in the Premier League.”
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Meanwhile, the 39-year-old United head coach can be seen with his head down throughout the random moment and could only shake his head in confirmation and reply, “No, I don’t want to [talk to him]”.
One fan wrote online: “[As] soon as Ed Sheeran rudely interrupted Amorim’s interview, he should have just put the mic down and walked off. Would’ve made a big statement to the media.”
Definitely the most entitled thing I’ve seen, imagine Jamie Redknapp walking on stage mid concert 😂
Despite laughing off the interjection and continuing with the questions Sheeran departs, Amorim looked already visibly exasperated with the media commitments if he wasn’t already, telling Sky Sports host Kelly Cates, “This week I spoke more than in four years of Sporting.”
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As for Ed, he has since apologised following the incident, writing in an Instagram story: “Apologies if I offended Amorim yesterday, didn’t actually realise he was being interviewed at the time, was popping to say hi and bye to Jamie. [Obviously] feel a bit of a b*****d but life goes on. Great game though, congrats [to] all involved.”
Amorim will have to get used to the circus that is English football as this is just the tip of the iceberg – especially when it comes to taking a job as big as the one at Manchester United.
What do you think: were Ed Sheeran and/or Sky Sports rude and disrespectful to Amorim, or is this just a bit of a storm in a teacup?
United take on Bodø/Glimt in the Europa League on Thursday in just Amorim’s second match, but for now you can watch the highlights of his debut in the dugout down below.
Dave Challinor calls on County fans to do ‘better’ after semi-final playoff disappointment
Danny Jones
Stockport County manager Dave Challinor has called on some of his fans to do better following heartbreak in the League One playoff semi-finals.
The Hatters have had an impressive first season back in the English third tier, landing just outside of the automatic promotion places and only narrowly missing out on making the final two following a disappointing penalty defeat on Wednesday night.
County hosted Leyton Orient at Edgeley Park for the second leg, an outfit that has displayed similar defiance in the division throughout the campaign, but conceding a sloppy early goal saw the home side scratching to get into the contest until there was only around a quarter of an hour left to go.
Ultimately, Challinor and his squad equalised and took the game to penalties, but it was the performance from a section of the supporters that he was just as frustrated with, as fans could be seen leaving the ground mid-shoot-out. Here’s what he had to say on the matter.
In a word, he felt they “deserved better’. What do you make of his comments?
A notably hoarse Challinor was left frustrated by some fans’ lack of faith, noting that several supporters began exiting the stadium whilst the penalty shoot-out was still going on.
The 49-year-old coach described it as the so-called County faithful “giving up”, reluctantly adding that he’d seen similar instances “throughout the course of the season”.
Insisting that if his players let their belief sleep and called it a day early like some of those in the stands, then the club “wouldn’t be in the position that [they] are.”
He also touched upon missing some big chances in the dying minutes of the 90 and extra time – that Isaac ‘Tanto’ Olaofe one, in particular – but as he told BBC after the game, “it might not have been [their] time”, and there’s a case to be made that may not quite be ready for the Championship just yet.
That being said, he and his backroom aren’t waiting around to make up that ground, insisting that all the staff will be straight back in to prepare for next year.
As for the winning spot-kick, it was scored by Manchester United academy product Ethan Gailbraith and former Salford City loanee, who dispatched it with great aplomb to send Orient into the playoff final.
LOOK AT WHAT IT MEANS!!!!
Ethan Galbraith won the game for Leyton Orient against Stockport County as they book their place at Wembley in the League One Play Off final! 👏#LOFC#StockportCounty pic.twitter.com/mfOmMdlTNN
— Attacking Football (@AttackingFooty) May 14, 2025
Orient are marching into the decisive tie at Wembley under the stewardship of Moston-born manager and another United graduate, Richie Wellens, who also played 87 times for Oldham Athletic before finishing his career at the likes of Salford and Macclesfield Town.
Much like Challinor at County, Wellens’ managerial record thus far has been an impressive one and were he to see the East London club promoted, it would undoubtedly be one of, if not the biggest, achievement of his coaching career.
The 45-year-old hailed his team as a “special group” and has every faith they can go all the way against either Charlton Athletic or Wycombe Wanderers in the final.
Featured Images — Charlie T (via WikiCommons)/Stockport County (screenshot via YouTube)
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Ruben Amorim reportedly paying for staff members flights ahead of the Europa League final
Danny Jones
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim is reportedly covering the cost of flights for several staff members and families around the club ahead of this month’s Europa League final.
Taking place on Wednesday, 21 May, Man United take on Spurs in UEFA’s second-string continental competition, giving the Red Devils a chance at lifting the trophy for the second time and, more importantly, getting into the Champions League next year.
Not only is this European final in a United manager’s maiden season a feat only previously achieved by Jose Mourinho, who also won it in his inaugural campaign at the club, but it also happens to be the first of Amorim’s career full stop.
With that in mind, the Portuguese head coach is hoping to rope in as much positivity and support as possible, so despite cost-cutting measures around the club over the last 18 months, Amorim is reaching into his own pocket to pay for staff and some of the family members to be at the final.
Ruben Amorim has paid for 30 of his Man United backroom staff to take their families to next week's Europa League final in Bilbao, Spain, after being told by the club that his coaches, physios and support team would have to pay for their own tickets, sources have told ESPN. pic.twitter.com/rC2GkGsvZb
Now this is the kind of leadership supporters like to see.
According to ESPN sports writer Mark Ogden, at least 30 members of his backroom staff have seen their travel to the final paid for after the club said they would not be covering the increasingly inflated prices, with flights to Bilbao unsurprisingly skyrocketing.
The Athletic‘s Mark Critchley has gone on to detail that “coaches, physios and support staff would instead be able to purchase up to two tickets”, while only two complimentary family tickets have been granted per player.
If you’re wondering why fans continue to make his name echo around the Theatre of Dreams in spite of poor performances, gestures like this should tell you why.
The 40-year-old’s debut Premier League season might be one to forget, with his team set to record United’s worst-ever finish, but a final at the first time of asking, even with a squad that’s visibly struggling to adjust to yet another period of overhaul, is still an achievement – especially a European one.
In addition to admitting that he’s been left “embarrassed” by the league form, he says one of his biggest fears is that everyone around Old Trafford is “losing the feeling of being a massive club”, both inside and out. Obviously, he’s hoping that potentially winning another European title will help fix that.
United played out a forgettable 2-0 loss to West Ham this past weekend in what should have felt like a bit of a free hit, but ultimately resulted in starting centre-back Leny Yoro picking up another injury and key players exerting a lot more energy than many would have hoped.
Most fans were expecting to see the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, Amad Diallo and so on rested to keep that balance between sharpness and recovery, but many first-choice players played far more minutes than was arguably necessary.
Whether or not this is all in line with his thinking, we’ll have to wait and see when the Reds rock up to the Basque Country a week from now
Danny Jones -
25th November 2024 
