Manchester United waited four months for Dan Ashworth to start work as sporting director. He spent five months in the role and his departure was confirmed on Sunday. Sir Jim Ratcliffe promised to end the chaos but not much has changed during his time as co-owner.
The chaos has continued and fans' pockets are being hit with increased ticket prices. Ashworth will receive a pay-off after his contract was mutually terminated and the money received from scrapping concessions will help pay for the sum. United's rivals are laughing at them again.
Ratcliffe described Ashworth as one of "the top sporting directors in the world" when he joined in the summer but the marriage has ended in an abrupt divorce, which has shocked supporters.
Ashworth officially started work on July 1 after protracted negotiations with Newcastle, who made him serve a lengthy period of gardening leave that started in mid-February.
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Newcastle initially demanded a £20million fee to release Ashworth from his contract and Ratcliffe hit out at their reluctance to let him begin work at United, calling the process "absurd."
United eventually agreed a fee of around £3m to allow Ashworth to start work and he was expected to overhaul the club's recruitment and usher in the shiny, new Ineos era in Manchester.
Ashworth played a part in the decision to keep Erik ten Hag in charge after FA Cup final success and was involved in United's recruitment in the summer window, which saw over £200million spent on Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs De Ligt and Noussair Mazraou.
Although Ratcliffe said the decision to back Ten Hag was not his, each of the executives on the club's board were thought to be across the decision, meaning it wasn't solely Ashworth's.
The circumstances that have led to Ashworth's departure will be reported in due course, although it was perhaps telling that Ratcliffe didn't mention his name in his recent interview United We Stand magazine when he talked about the new football structure and only discussed Ruben Amorim and Omar Berrada.
Ratcliffe also said: "United must have the best recruitment in the world. You can't just flick a light switch and sort out recruitment. It's all about people and we need to find the right ones."
Ashworth was spotted walking through the press room at Old Trafford - the directors' suite is next door - on Sunday afternoon with a solemn look as he avoided eye contact with journalists.
Ineos' time at United had been a disaster so far and Ratcliffe's honeymoon period officially ended when fans protesting outside Old Trafford last weekend targeted him with vitriolic chanting.
Ineos extended Ten Hag's contract when all the evidence said he needed to leave. Ten Hag was sacked a few months later. They appointed Ashworth and his exit will also cost millions. They have hiked ticket prices, created mass redundancies, scaled back academy coverage, scrapped European away ticket collections, disregarded the women's team and overseen awful results.
"We made some mistakes at Lausanne, but we are fast learners," said Ratcliffe when he bought OGC Nice but the bad decisions have continued in Manchester and that's not good enough.
Ratcliffe said he couldn't contemplate failing at Manchester United because of the sheer size of the club but he has presided over a mess and Ruben Amorim has to pick up the pieces.
Each manager in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era ultimately failed because they worked at a club that wasn't set up to succeed. Amorim has arrived at United in a very similar position.