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Ruben Amorim keeps telling Sir Jim Ratcliffe to ‘f*** off’ as Man Utd chief drops blunt verdict on ‘not perfect’ boss

MANCHESTER UNITED co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has issued his verdict on head coach Ruben Amorim amid the club’s poor run of form.

The Red Devils currently sit 14th in the Premier League table with just 34 points from 28 games.

Photo of Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
PA
Sir Jim Ratcliffe insists Ruben Amorim is the right man for the job at Man Utd[/caption]
Ruben Amorim, Manchester United manager, gesturing during a match.
Reuters
Amorim has managed just 11 wins since joining United in November[/caption]

Since Amorim arrived four months ago they have managed just 11 wins in 26 outings.

However, United chief Ratcliffe insists he is still the right man for the job – despite the rocky start.

The British billionaire told the Times: “I think he’s done a great job in the circumstances, frankly, with the squad that he’s had available. The fact he came in mid-season.

“Everybody expects miracles overnight. It’s not the way, not real life in my view. I mean, you saw the performance yesterday [Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal].

“It was, I thought, a really impressive performance. They could not have worked harder. They couldn’t have been more committed.

“And if you looked at the names on the bench, there weren’t many you recognised, were there? Half the squad’s missing for Ruben.

“If you look at the top eight players in terms of salaries in Manchester United, 50 per cent of those are not available to Ruben.

“You’ve got Mason Mount, you’ve got Luke Shaw, Marcus Rashford has gone, and Jadon Sancho. And he’s got a bunch of other injuries as you know, so I think he’s done a fantastic job.

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“I think coaches are emotional and Ruben’s no exception to that. And he’s a young coach. And he’s not perfect. You know, he’s not a guy who… he’s got to be good on the stage, but we want him to be good on the grass. And part of that is life on the stage, isn’t it?

“You know, you’re a young guy, you’ve come into the Premier League for the first time in your life, you’ve come in mid-season, it’s not your natural language.

“You have to give the guy a bit of a break. I mean, give me a hard time, I have no problem with that. But give Ruben a break. I think he’s a good guy, he’s working hard and I think he’s doing a great job.”

Asked if he thinks Amorim is the man to lead Man Utd back to glory, Ratcliffe concluded: “Yeah I do, honestly.

“I really, really like Ruben. He’s a very thoughtful guy. Every time I go to the training ground, I speak to Ruben.

“I sit down and have a cup of coffee with him and tell him where it’s going wrong, and he tells me to f*** off. I like him.”

Ratcliffe also took part in a chat with the BBC where he admitted that some United players are “overpaid” and he defended his controversial cost-cutting tactics.

Man Utd ratings vs Arsenal as De Ligt shows exactly why Man Utd signed him but Zirkzee is as frustrating as ever

IT was a performance that would have pleased Ruben Amorim but a 1-1 draw with Arsenal does little to paper over the cracks at Manchester United.

On a day when the Old Trafford crowd protested the owners, the players stood up to show their remains life in a club that fans say is experiencing a “slow death”.

There was a lack of clear-cut chances in the opening 45 minutes as both sides goalscoring troubles continued.

A moment of magic was needed and Fernandes stepped up as he so often does.

Arsenal‘s wall was full of man mountains, but Fernandes found the power, dip and accuracy to beat David Raya with his free-kick – even if the wall was marched 11.2 yards back instead of the regulated ten.

Mikel Arteta’s side came out swinging in the second-half with their makeshift No9 up top, and it took a brilliant effort from Declan Rice to level the scores.

United were able to frustrate them and remain a threat on the counter but eventually had to settle for a point in a much-improved performance.

Here is how SunSport’s Martin Blackburn rated the United performances.

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Ukraine launches ‘biggest drone attack of war against Russia’ sparking huge explosions in Moscow ahead of peace talks

UKRAINE has fiercely hit back at despot Vladimir Putin by launching one of their biggest drone attacks of the war so far.

Russian air defences were left scrambling to shoot down Ukraine’s 337 drones across 10 regions, according to Moscow.

Large fire burning at night.
East2West
Russian air defences were left scrambling to shoot down Ukraine’s 337 drones across 10 regions, according to local media[/caption]
Burned cars in a parking lot after a drone attack.
AP
Cars in Domodedovo, outside Moscow, were left decimated in the strikes[/caption]
A burning house at night.
East2West
A house was seen up in flames after the Ukrainian strikes[/caption]
Large fire burning near buildings at night.
East2West
Flames burned through the night after the string of attacks[/caption]
Drone-damaged apartment window at night.
Reuters
An apartment damaged by Ukraine’s drone attack[/caption]

The swarm of strikes on Putin’s capital came as President Volodymyr Zelensky’s negotiators are due to start talks with Donald Trump’s team in Saudi Arabia today.

At least one person has been killed and three others injured in the “massive” attack, Russian officials claim.

Drones were shot down over Kursk, Belgorod, Bryansk and Voronezh on the border with Ukraine.

Other areas deeper inside Russia were also hit including Kaluga, Lipetsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Oryol and Ryazan.

Kremlin loyalist and Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said: “The most massive attack of enemy UAVs on Moscow has been repelled.

“Hundreds of combat drones have been shot down at various points.”

Russian officials described it as a “mass attack” and said it was the first major strike on the capital since November.

One drone blast exploded in Kurchatov, a town close to the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.

Kursk was one of the main targets for the drones outside of Moscow after intense battlefield fighting in recent days.

Around 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers are facing complete encirclement having been left trapped and fighting blind in the region.

Kyiv has frantically fought to maintain its position in occupied Kursk to serve as leverage for potential peace talks.

Embattled troops are now facing an assault from a new wave of more advanced Russian drones and kamikaze assaults by North Korean storm brigades.

Ukraine is facing an advantage that Russia has long endured over its enemy – sheer manpower and endless waves for the meat grinder.

Some sources have blamed the advances over the last few days on the suspension of US intelligence by Donald Trump.

Trump’s team argue they are trying to stop the war – insisting they trying to “take a step back” as they play peacemaker.

Elsewhere, four main airports in the capital were also disrupted overnight due to the drone strikes.

Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukova and Zhukovsky all faced dozens of arrival diversions and delayed takeoffs due to the raging fires and smoke flying overhead.

Burning cars in a parking lot.
East2West
A burning wreckage of a car in Russia[/caption] Illustration showing the shrinking Ukrainian frontline in Russia's Kursk region from March 4-10, with additional information on military implications and political figures.

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M6 is STILL shut due to huge oil spill sparking ‘severe’ rush-hour delays & 3.5 miles of gridlocked traffic

THE M6 is still shut after a massive oil spill sparked hour-long delays and miles of gridlocked traffic.

A lorry ploughed into a the central reservation on the M6 at 1pm yesterday near Preston causing a “significant diesel spillage.”

Recovery trucks at a highway accident.
A major motorway remains closed after an accident leading to a diesel spill
Aerial view of a traffic jam on a highway.
The M6 has been closed off since 1.10pm yesterday
Traffic jam on a highway.
Motorists have been warned that there are ‘severe delays’

Emergency services, including cops, paramedics and Highway officers all raced to the scene as “severe delays” built up.

The northbound carriageway on the M6 in Lancashire has been shut off and drivers since the collision and drivers have been urged to divert their journeys.

A National Highways spokesperson said: “The M6 in Lancashire is closed northbound between J31 and J32 near Preston to allow for emergency resurfacing works to take place following a collision involving a lorry which resulted in a significant diesel spillage.

“The lorry struck the central reservation barrier, coming to rest on top of it. As a result of this, the fuel tank was ruptured, spilling the entire contents over the road surface.

“A complex recovery and clear-up operation has been ongoing throughout the afternoon. Unfortunately all 4 lanes of the road surface need resurfacing.”

National Highways warned that there was 3.5 miles of standstill traffic near the accident yesterday.

The delay causes congestion for up to 90 minutes and drivers were in gridlock for eight miles.

National Highways said yesterday: “There’s now SEVERE delays and approx 3.5 miles of stationary traffic approaching the closure of the #M6 northbound in #Lancashire between J31 & J32 near #Preston.

“Southbound there’s also a 90 min delay & 8 miles of congestion due to the lane closure.

“Consider alternate routes.”

Traffic jam on a highway.
The northbound carriageway on the M6 in Lancashire has been shut

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All the things you forgot we did in the early days of the Covid lockdown

Queuing for the shops, clapping for the NHS – the Covid lockdown began almost half a decade ago (Picture: Getty)

Five years ago, with the dawn of the Covid pandemic, life in the UK seemed to change dramatically overnight.

Everything we took for granted – from social interaction and the daily commute to shopping and ordering a takeaway – was thrown out of balance.

And then… things seemed to mostly change back again.

Of course, there were some momentous shifts in society both tangible (the growth in popularity of working from home, for example) and intangible (such as a rise in conspiracy theories).

But remembering those early months of lockdown, for those lucky enough to not be personally impacted by the devastation of the virus, can sometimes feel recalling scenes from a movie.

Here are a few things you may have forgotten about.

Makeshift masks

Face masks became necessary for everyday life, whether you were travelling somewhere or just meeting someone on the street.

But it wasn’t always easy to get your hands on the kind of surgical-grade mask which was recommended by the experts.

This led to the bizarre situation where businesses and organisations would sell branded fabric masks as a merchandise opportunity – I got my hands on a fetching Aberdeen Art Gallery one.

TOPSHOT - A woman walks past a restaurant with social distancing markings in Portobello Market in west London on June 1, 2020, following the easing of the lockdown restrictions during the novel coronavirus pandemic. - Some non-essential stores, car dealerships and outdoor markets in Britain on June 1 were able to reopen from their COVID-19 shutdown in an easing of coronavirus lockdown measures. (Photo by Tolga AKMEN / AFP) (Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Yellow-and-black safety tape became a common sight (Picture: Tolga Akmen/AFP)

And for those people who preferred more of a homemade vibe, there always seemed to be a relative or friend of a relative who would stitch their own from an online guide.

Popping to the shops

This was perhaps the most jarring shift in everyday life that the nation went through.

The weekly shop suddenly meant waiting in a massive queue outside the supermarket entrance, with each person spaced two metres apart.

One by one, each customer would be ushered in by a masked employee as others left, and once inside you would have to adhere to a one-way system and try to avoid touching anything you weren’t going to buy.

When you got home, naturally, you’d have to give your shopping a wipe down or leave it alone for a while to ensure any germs were dead.

Lockdown hobbies

All that time spent inside the home couldn’t just be filled with binge-watching TV shows – no matter how hard some people may have tried.

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM - MAY 14: Twin sisters, daughters of the photographer, enjoy a Zoom party for their fourth birthday, hosted by children's entertainers 'Party on a Cloud', on May 14, 2020 in Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. The prime minister announced the general contours of a phased exit from the current lockdown, adopted nearly two months ago in an effort curb the spread of Covid-19. (Photo by Jim Dyson/Getty Images)
Twin sisters have a Zoom party for their fourth birthday in May 2020 (Picture: Jim Dyson/Getty Images)

Many tried learning a new skill, such as baking banana bread and sourdough or mixing cocktails (though the latter could be a risk, considering the sheer amount of end product).

Alternatively, there were all the things you’d normally do in person that transferred onto Zoom: pub quizzes and gigs from musicians or comedians.

Once things eased up a bit, you might have taken the opportunity to go for a pint… with a strictly limited number of friends, and in a freezing beer garden.

Government-sanctioned walks

In the first week of lockdown in March 2020, then-Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove gave a bit of advice for people who wanted to venture outside.

He told Andrew Marr: ‘I would have thought that for most people, a walk of up to an hour, or a run of 30 minutes or a cycle ride of between that, depending on their level of fitness is appropriate.’

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 10: Children maintain social distancing measures while playing in the playground at Earlham Primary School, which is part of the Eko Trust on June 10, 2020 in London, England. As part of Covid-19 lockdown measures, Earlham Primary School is teaching smaller ???bubbles??? of students, to help maintain social distancing measures. School staff have put into place many safety measures such as corridor signage for a one way system, regular supervised handwashing, temperature checks on arrival and enhanced cleaning regimes to keep pupils and staff as safe as possible. Bubbles of pupils are limited to six and each have their own well-ventilated space. The Government have announced it is set to drop plans for all English primary pupils to return to school before the end of the summer. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
The two-metre rule made meeting up with friends challenging (Picture: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Thus began the concept of the time-limited daily government-sanctioned walk, with care taken to avoid coming within two metres of fellow wanderers.

There were some of us who even planned our days around it, as if it was some kind of indulgence.

Covid pass

Some people with older phones may still have, deep in their apps and long-unopened, their Covid pass.

This was a QR code or digital certificate that showed you had been given the coronavirus vaccine and could enter more high-risk environments.

Wales and Scotland required people to show this for entry into large venues or outdoors events from October 2021, and England did the same for a brief period between 2021 and 2022.

But it was used for a longer period to allow people to travel overseas.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Rescuer says ‘it’s a miracle they didn’t all die’ after North Sea oil tanker crash

AT SEA, UNITED KINGDOM - MARCH 10: Fire and rescue services attend after a collision between oil tanker MV Stena Immaculate and the cargo vessel MV Solong off the coast of the Humber Estuary on March 10, 2025 at sea, United Kingdom. Thirty-two people were reportedly brought ashore with injuries after the collision of the oil tanker MV Stena Immaculate and the MV Solong, a cargo vessel, on Monday morning. (Photo by Lee Whitaker/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***
Fire and rescue services attend after a collision between oil tanker MV Stena Immaculate and the cargo vessel MV Solong off the coast of the Humber Estuary (Picture: Getty)

One of the rescuers who responded to the mayday call when a shipping container collided with a tanker in the North Sea has said ‘It’s a miracle they didn’t all die’.

At least 37 crew aboard both vessels had an astonishing escape as ‘multiple explosions’ rocked US-flagged MV Stena Immaculate – anchored ten miles off Hull and loaded with highly flammable kerosene for American warplanes.

Its crew abandoned ship minutes after it was rammed by MV Solong – reportedly on autopilot as it headed from Scotland to Rotterdam with 15 containers of toxic sodium cyanide among its cargo.

Fears were growing last night of an environmental disaster, amid reports of fuel leaking out across the Humber Estuary towards the East Yorkshire coast.

Local MP Graham Stuart confirmed one person is in hospital, with all 36 others from both vessels safe.

A trawlerman who was among dozens of small boats which rushed to respond to the mayday call just before 10am described ‘very scary’ scenes as they were confronted with ‘plumes of smoke’ and a ‘really strong smell of burning’.

‘It’s a miracle they didn’t all die,’ he added. ‘The fog was pretty horrendous.’

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