Former Manchester United player Michael Owen believes the board always had “scepticism” about Ruben Amorim and his recent comments were simply an excuse to sack him.

Amorim was relieved of his duties on Monday after taking a swipe at the Unitedhierarchy, ending a tenure which had previously seen him survive calling the club the worst it’s ever been, a 15th-place finish and an embarrassing League Cup exit to Grimsby.

Despite all this, part-owner Jim Ratcliffe said in the summer that Amorim should be judged over three years but Owen believes there was always “scepticism” about the Portuguese boss.

“With regard to problems Amorim had,” Owen said.?“I think the one positive he had, was I think people liked him, the way he spoke and how he articulated things and how honest he was. And I think that was an absolute stark contrast to his predecessor, Ten Hag.

“I actually think Amorim’s honesty and his take on things was quite refreshing, and he would quite openly say, This is the worst Manchester United team there’s ever been, and all these things.

“So it’s quite refreshing when you see that from a manager. So that possibly is one of the reasons why he kept the job after some real dips, because his results at the end of the day, compared to any manager in the last decades, were worse.

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“So I think there was a little bit of that. And I also think there was a little bit of everybody thinking, we can’t just keep changing the manager. So people were willing to give him even longer.

“However, I do think behind the scenes, there was scepticism. I do think the results, I do think the system and the way he was reluctant to change had a big bearing on that. I do think that probably the powers above him were not convinced. Once he was going to step out of line, let’s say, in this situation, it almost gave them the perfect excuse to say ‘right, well, we weren’t happy anyway, so this is the perfect time to do it.’ I think that’s what happened.”

For those reasons, Owen said he was not “surprised at all” by the decision and linked it to Enzo Maresca’s departure from Chelsea.

The former Liverpool and Manchester United striker added: “I think both scenarios, Maresca at Chelsea and Amorim at Manchester United, both almost happened quickly. A week before, there was nothing.

“In the lead up to the game against Leeds, I was doing the game on TV, and all the chat behind the scenes was, Amorim, there’s been a big bust-up. So I knew before the game that this could escalate rather like it did with Maresca. And of course, in many ways, it’s a very similar scenario.

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“Now there’s plenty of different departments that all need to be happy. So, yeah, it did happen quick, but I wasn’t surprised at all. I was a little bit surprised with what he said after the game, but I knew that there was trouble behind the scenes. But as soon as he said it, I wasn’t surprised that it ended quickly. You simply can’t say things like that about your team, about your employers, about anything, and expect to last. When you look back at his reign, there are so many points you can say it went wrong for him.”

As for what comes next, Owen says that is the $64m question.

“So we all know the way it goes. It’s eventually you can’t hide behind results and his weren’t good enough,”?he exclusively told F365, courtesy of casino.org where he is UK ambassador, which helps players find the best casino online options in Britain. “Then obviously, the $64 million question is, to me, what type of manager? Who would you like to see go in there? Because it’s obviously going to take some type of manager to work under that system that they have at the club. They’ve tried the younger coaches.

“Now, if Darren Fletcher gets a good result, we all know what will happen. He’ll get the next game and the next game and the next game. And then if he does it six, seven, eight, nine times, like Ole, then he’s going to get the job until the end of the season, you would think. So I get that. There’s lots of good managers out there. There’s lots of good managers that are in a job that might be ready for a change at the end of the season.

“I’m looking at Crystal Palace, Glasner. I’m looking at Fulham. I’m looking at Bournemouth. There’s lots of managers that are in a job that are highly respected and touted. And then you’ve got people that are out of work.”

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