Any remaining patience felt towards Sir Jim Ratcliffe for early mistakes, such as not only keeping Erik ten Hag but effectively giving him a first date by extending his contract, will be over if Ruben Amorim doesn’t work out.

Even if Sir Jim’s head is not put to death – you don’t get rid of someone who paid over a billion pounds for 27% of the club – questions should be asked of the managers he has named; Dan Ashworth, Omar Berrada and Sir Dave Brailsford.

For various reasons, they have so far seemed to me to be a case of the blind leading the deaf.

Sir Jim, a notable businessman who is expected to eventually improve things at Old Trafford, has brought his sports team together to give them the right information to make the right decisions. We’re about to learn more about their alleged expertise when the Amorim Era begins on Sunday.

Sporting director Dan Ashworth was adept at finding players on a smaller budget at Brighton and Newcastle, but there is a different level of expectation when making top-end decisions at Man United.

Sir Jim thought paying a £20 million release clause for him was worth it. Like all expensive signings, it’s reasonable to expect Ashworth to live up to his reputation. He now finds himself in a market where the price of every coveted player at Old Trafford is increasing.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe will look for positive impact from new head coach Ruben Amorim

But if that doesn’t happen, the petrochemical billionaire could take a closer look at the impact of his ‘new brooms’: Sir Dave Brailsford (centre), Omar Berrada (centre right) and Dan Ashworth (right ).

Portuguese coach will sit in the dugout for the first time as Red Devils coach against Ipswich

Brailsford, he of marginal gains and head of sport at Ratcliffe’s company Ineos, was the supposed proponent of keeping the hapless Erik and purveyor of portable knowledge. I read someone who said that if you found Brailsford in bed with your wife, he would convince you it was your idea!

As for general manager Berrada, he was previously director of football operations at Manchester City, a position requiring different skills.

This is not an automatic red flag, accomplished Manchester United CEO David Gill was initially finance director. But working for a club that is far from philanthropic is a major departure from a Gulf state-owned club with burning ambitions to establish itself as a global force.

No one should be written off after a mistake, but Manchester United’s new broom hasn’t had a good summer. The decision to extend Ten Hag’s contract was ridiculous, and the recruiting was also questionable.

Sir Jim and his team – even those on gardening leave – would likely have contributed to the expensive signings of Matthijs de Ligt, Manuel Ugarte and Joshua Zirkzee.

I assume these players were bought for Manchester United per se, not Ten Hag’s version. If they turn out to be puppies, there must be blood on the floor.

Surprisingly to me, Sir Jim also wasn’t hugely impressive in a Bloomberg interview I watched. The lack of detail regarding his wider plans for United – and his support for Ten Hag at the time – was unconvincing.

It may seem pedantic to refer to the Premiership when its name changed to the Premier League in 2007, but it added to the feeling of a lack of complex thinking.

Man United parted ways with Berrada and Ashworth from Premier League rivals Manchester City and Newcastle respectively.

Ratcliffe hasn’t been hugely impressive when called upon to discuss the club in interviews

Brailsford has long been the Ineos boss’ right-hand man, but he missed the decision to keep Erik ten Hag this summer.

The former manager finally received his marching orders after a torrid start to his tenure.

On the plus side, we know Sir Jim will focus minds. The club’s spending of £180m in the latest window is hardly frugal and inside the club it has moved quickly to create a more vibrant atmosphere, making efficiencies where it may have the impression that people were on an easy street.

The Glazers make commercial sense, but on the pitch United have fallen off the precipice from their heyday under Sir Alex Ferguson as the poster boy of the Premier League. This is why Amorim is so crucial.

He produced a wonderful team at Sporting Lisbon. It was the same for Ten Hag at Ajax, although as a personality the young Portuguese coach seems better accustomed to not wilting under scrutiny. While Ten Hag metaphorically resembled a small man in a big suit, the first impression is that Amorim exudes confidence.

You can only bounce back when you hit rock bottom and I believe Ratcliffe’s tenure will arrest the decline at Old Trafford. I don’t think they’ll wait 26 years between championship runs.

Yet as an important football club, both in terms of achievements and commercial engine, he does not want United to lose more than they are starting to.

Getting the best in class to back him was Sir Jim’s ambition. Are Ashworth, Berrada and Brailsford the best in their class, or the follies of a super-rich and successful man seduced by the burning ambition of owning his boyhood club and grasping at the proverbial straw?

With that in mind, bringing in Amorim, 39, is a move that has to work for all parties involved.

Managers should ignore social media sycophancy

Whatever the true meaning of Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford’s social media posts this week, I would take it with a pinch of salt if I were their managers.

Grealish thanked Lee Carsley for bringing the “fun” back to England while Rashford greeted Ruben Amorim’s first day at Manchester United with a beaming smile and a “best session” message.

Like many things in society, they can be interpreted based on different narratives.

Jack Grealish has bid farewell to interim England boss Lee Carsley on social media.

Marcus Rashford (right) also enjoyed his first training session under Amorim

I once said that I cared as much about the players as they cared about me, much to the amusement of Lord Sugar. In his experience, the players didn’t care about the owners, that’s how he took it. In fact, I could have wanted to say that I loved my players…

An angle on MM. Grealish and Rashford is that they were removing Gareth Southgate – who left Grealish out of his squad for the Euros – and Erik ten Hag who punished Rashford for being late.

If I were a manager, including Amorim or New England boss Thomas Tuchel, I would put very little weight in a player’s Instagram or Twitter output. The last people to be asked if they are happy or not are gamers. They live in a culture where they blame others for their own failings. I would not have asked their opinion on my nominations.

Amorim might feel relieved by Rashford’s warm welcome, but if he ever leaves the striker out, I’m sure he’ll get the same treatment as Ten Hag.

I don’t think the modern footballer in general is good at accountability. A message, perhaps dreamed up by their personal media team, may seem like a clever way to prove their point to an ex who dumped them, but no one should be fooled. The next manager will have the same if he decides to address his shortcomings.

So I was not harmed, on Southgate’s behalf, to see Grealish praise Carsley and compare favorably to his time in charge. Maybe Jack was just a teacher’s pet and he was giving an apple to the manager who chose him. Maybe Marcus is trying to curry favor with Amorim.

Either way, I don’t care. Grealish and Rashford will be judged over the next 12 months by what they do on the football pitch, not the simpering messages they broadcast.