Manchester United icon Rio Ferdinand has pulled no punches when discussing his former employer's brutal removal of Dan Ashworth as the club's sporting director. Having been made Sir Jim Ratcliffe's number one target after the businessman came to power at Old Trafford, Ashworth was relieved of his duties on Sunday after just five months in the role.
The Red Devils had been forced to wait a substantial period of time for the Englishman to serve a period of gardening leave from Newcastle United, but the two parties have mutually decided to go their separate ways. Now, legendary defender Ferdinand has had his say and issued a warning to INEOS following the shocking decision.
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In a clip taken from a recent episode of the 'Rio Presents' podcast, Ferdinand discussed Ashworth's shock departure and did not hold back when stating that the INEOS-led football operations team had to take the same approach to getting rid of lesser-performing players. The 46-year-old stated:
"Confusion is the first thing that comes to mind [on Ashworth leaving]. I just hope they're as brutal as they have been with the staff who have been there for years and they're culling. I hope they're this brutal with the s*** players.
"If there are any s*** players that are there and ones that have either been there too long or the ones who just ain't good enough, be as brutal as they have been. Get them the f*** out quick. For better or worse, at least they have made a bloody decision."
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Morale in and around the football club is said to be incredibly low following the decision to make up to 250 staff members redundant earlier in the season as part of cost-cutting measures being undertaken by Sir Jim Ratcliffe. The billionaire was also forced to explain why ticket prices have increased after fans protested the fees ahead of United's 4-0 win over Everton.