Dan Ashworth has outlined his objectives at Man United.
Manchester United have sent Dan Ashworth packing after just five months, but a report claims that the departing director already had a diminished role at the club.
The Red Devils appointed the 53-year-old as sporting director in July, even paying out compensation to his former employers Newcastle United worth £2m to £3m.
However, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS showed their lack of patience by terminating Ashworth’s contract “by mutual consent”. The Red Devils confirmed the news by releasing a brief official statement on Sunday.
The executive had found success at several previous gigs, including Newcastle and Brighton, but he’d likely want to put his time at Old Trafford behind him as swiftly as possible, especially amidst reports claiming he was escorted out of the stadium following Saturday’s defeat against Nottingham.
Sky Sports senior reporter Melissa Reddy tries to make some sense out of the whole situation, while explaining that Ashworth never hold as much power at the club as he would have expected.
“Significant questions will be raised over INEOS’ leading of football operations at Manchester United following Dan Ashworth’s departure from the club after just five months as sporting director,” noted Reddy.
“The latest shock at Old Trafford, following on from the decision to keep Erik ten Hag, heavily back him in the summer window and then sack him 13 games into the season, will be another expensive exercise.
“Amid mass redundancies and the hiking of ticket prices, the sentiment is growing that ordinary people are paying for the mistakes of the hierarchy – first the Glazers, and now under Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s navigation.
“Ashworth’s appointment was held up as the ‘best in class’ approach that would underpin United’s new structure.
Nevertheless, Reddy believes the divorce was rather smooth, as no major fallout has been reported.
“While sources insist there was no major falling out but rather an agreement that the set-up was not working well, it is another embarrassing look for INEOS’ decision-making.
“They will counter that with Ten Hag and Ashworth they have been willing to back someone but have shown a decisive edge when it is apparent change is necessary.”
Dan Ashworth never held a strong grip at Man United
While the reporter admits the news came out of the blue, she argues that his lack of involvement in the big decisions – including replacing Ten Hag with Ruben Amorim – was a sign of things to come.
“Unlike developments around the Dutchman, the Ashworth news came from left field. However, there was a clue that he wasn’t as involved as a sporting director should be.
“It was CEO Omar Berrada that ran point on the identifying of Ruben Amorim as the club’s new head coach, he undertook the negotiations with Sporting, made the pitch to the Portuguese, and was the one to welcome him to the training ground.
“Ashworth has been described by some as a lot more passive than the other INEOS hires.
That is balanced by different sources feeling he hasn’t had the time to get to grips with the scale of some areas – like the scouting operation – while dealing with a managerial change, the club-wide restructuring and the redevelopment of Carrington.
“Whatever the case, INEOS have to show these are simply teething issues on account of implementing a new structure rather than a hugely costly habit of correcting their mistakes.”