From Ferguson to Ruben Amorim: How every Man Utd manager did on their debut

Ruben Amorim made his debut as Man Utd head coach on Sunday, 24 November, 2024.

Man Utd took on Ipswich at Portman Road in a 16:30 kick-off in what was the first game of the Ruben Amorim era.

It's important to get off to a good start in a new job, and being a football manager (or head coach, these days) is no different.

While nothing is ever set in stone if your debut goes poorly - Pep Guardiola's La Liga debut with Barcelona ended in a 1-0 defeat and he changed the sporting world with that team - getting an early win brings fans and media onside.

READ MORE: Five Players To Watch For Ruben Amorim’s Man Utd debut

For Man Utd, the biggest club in the country and one of the three biggest clubs in the whole world, the media scrutiny is beyond intense.

This is especially so when you've struggled, as Man Utd did in 2024/25. When Amorim took over, the Red Devils sat 13th in the Premier League table, a massive 13 points behind league-leaders Liverpool.

They haven't won the Premier League in the 11 years since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. Meanwhile, they've had to watch hated rivals Liverpool and Man City duke it out for the top prize.

All the negative vibes around a club can be dispelled with a great debut display. A good start can be huge, but is it impactful? How did the post-Ferguson managers do on their debut? And, in fact, how did the great man himself do back in 1986? Let's have a look.

Ruben Amorim

Match: Ipswich Town 1-1 Man Utd

Date: 24 November, 2024

Man Utd blitzed Ipswich after just 81 seconds in Ruben Amorim's debut, but a deflected goal from the Tractor Boys ultimately saw the spoils shared.

Ruud van Nistelrooy

Match: Man Utd 5-2 Leicester City

Date: 30 October, 2024

Leicester got a Ruud awakening in the Carabao Cup as the handsome Dutchman got his caretaker spell off to a hot start.

Erik ten Hag

Match: Man Utd 1-2 Brighton

Date: 7 August, 2022

In hindsight, the risible loss to Brighton was a portent of doom for Ten Hag.

Ralf Rangnick

Match: Man Utd 1-0 Crystal Palace

Date: 5 December, 2021

Remember Ralf Rangnick? Yeah. What a weird time.

READ MORE: Fabrizio Romano CONFIRMS Man Utd's transfer plans

Michael Carrick

Match: Villarreal 0-2 Man Utd

Date: 23 November, 2021

Michael Carrick (and Kieran McKenna) looked a solid pairing and worked up this impressive Champions League away win. Carrick also masterminded a win over Arsenal! Probably should have kept him instead of getting Rangnick.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Match: Cardiff City 1-5 Man Utd

Date: 18 December, 2018

It's impossible to put into words the sense of euphoria that radiated out of Cardiff on this day as Manchester United woke from the long night of Jose Mourinho and emerged into one of the brightest false dawns in football history.

Jose Mourinho

Match: Leicester City 1-2 Man Utd

Date: 7 August, 2016

Soon we will re-evaluate Jose Mourinho's time at Old Trafford into two periods: one where Zlatan Ibrahimovic played and the team was good, and another where Zlatan Ibrahimovic did not play and the team was bad.

Zlatan played against Leicester. And the team was good.

Louis van Gaal

Match: Man Utd 1-2 Swansea

Date: 16 August, 2014

After his World Cup party with the Netherlands this was like the farting sound a baloon makes as you let the air out of it.

Ryan Giggs

Match: Man Utd 4-0 Norwich

Date: 26 April, 2014

"Give it Giggseh til the end of the season" is one of football's first great social media memes and, against Norwich at least, Ryan Giggs looked the part. Though how much of this was his own skill and how much was the fact that he just wasn't David Moyes is open to interpretation.

READ MORE: Lewandowski tells Amorim how to fix MAJOR Man Utd problem

David Moyes

Match: Man Utd 2-0 Wigan

Date: 11 August, 2013

A nice Robin van Persie brace disguised how bad Man Utd were against vastly inferior opposition. Kind of like how David Moyes' Glaswegian accent disguised how bad of a fit he was to be Man Utd first manager after Sir Alex Ferguson.

Sir Alex Ferguson

Match: Oxford United 2-0 Man Utd

Date: 8 November, 1986

Ruben need not worry if his debut goes poorly because quite possibly the greatest manager to ever do it got comfortably beaten away at Oxford on his!