Sporting director's departure is the latest example of the muddled thinking at Old Trafford since the arrival of co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Since becoming master of all he surveys at Manchester United, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made sweeping changes but not all of them have convinced fans he is the man to lead the club into a new era
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If you want to give Sir Jim Ratcliffe a sliver of credit, at least he can be described as decisive. No-one goes from a council estate - in case you had somehow forgotten, Ratcliffe reminded us again the other day - to a Monaco bolthole with billions in the bank by being indecisive, that is for sure.
Being ruthless goes with the tycoon’s territory. Not only has Ratcliffe culled rank-and-file staff at Manchester United, he has now given one of the big cheeses the boot after two minutes in the gig.
Ratcliffe knows this looks lousy. Spend all that time and money on prising Dan Ashworth out of Newcastle United and then, at even more expense, fire him five months after he started at Old Trafford.
Gary Neville slams Ruben Amorim for slipping into Erik ten Hag habit at Man Utd
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Dan Ashworth's five Man Utd signings rated and slated as Sir Jim Ratcliffe wields axe](https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/manchester-united-dan-ashworth-transfers-34272118)
But Ratcliffe is clearly not bothered by what it looks like. He has either judged for himself or been told that Ashworth is not a man for Manchester United and waved him on his way. Perhaps Ratcliffe should have been just as decisive and ruthless when assessing Erik ten Hag’s situation in the summer.
Or maybe he left that task to Ashworth and maybe that is why he has gone. Maybe Ashworth insisted Ten Hag should stay and that is why Ratcliffe decided his sporting director’s position was untenable.
Manchester United's Dan Ashworth embraces Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag
Dan Ashworth was thought to be instrumental in Erik ten Hag making it into a third season at Old Trafford and that could be one of the reasons behind the sporting director's departure
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The club statement says Ashworth’s departure was by mutual consent but no-one believes that line, and the spin is that the 53-year-old former Football Association man was simply ‘not a good fit’ for United. But what the last few months have told supporters is that if there is someone important who is ‘not a good fit’ for United, then it is Ratcliffe.
It is not a good fit for Ratcliffe to be scrapping concessions for kids and charging them £66 to get into a match. It is not a good fit for Ratcliffe to be making office workers redundant but making huge pay-offs and signing-on fees to managers and coaches.
It is not a good fit for Ratcliffe to be suggesting taxpayers might want to fund the building of a new stadium. It is not a good fit for Ratcliffe to be turning down the chance to watch United’s women’s team winning the FA Cup at Wembley.
Dan Ashworth was recruited at great expense and trouble but has not lasted six months in his role at Manchester United (
Image:
Getty Images)
I have said it before. Some saw Ratcliffe’s partial takeover as the arrival of a knight in shining armour but he has been more like a horseman of the apocalypse. Replacing Ten Hag with the very personable Ruben Amorim - and a whole coterie of coaches to go with the executive brains trust that is now one brain short - has been a popular move, even if one win in four Premier League matches is hardly the most auspicious of starts.
But nothing that Ratcliffe has said and done since walking through the door - well, since giving his first media briefing in his Knightsbridge office - could convince even the most optimistic of United fans that this Monaco tax exile is the man to take United back to where they belong.
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