Jim Ratcliffe, the Manchester United co-owner, has come under criticism for making short-term, questionable decisions. His latest such decision came when United decided to part ways with Sporting Director Dan Ashworth.
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Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe is facing the heat for his club’s poor decision-making amid the team’s underwhelming start to the 2024-25 season. Manchester United are enduring an inconsistent run across competitions currently, with the club in 13th place in the English Premier League (19 points from 15 matches). United are 12th in the UEFA Europa League with nine points from five matches, having won only two matches.
Jim Ratcliffe’s questionable decisions
Ratcliffe has come under criticism for making questionable decisions, often those which are short term and the businessman himself has admitted that Manchester United ae “mediocre”, due to which “unpopular and difficult” decisions need to be made. The latest such decision made by Ratcliffe was that to let go of Sporting Director Dan Ashworth, just five months after he had taken over in his new role.
Ashworth was named Manchester United Sporting Director in July 2024 after the club had lengthy discussions with Newcastle United, Ashworth’s former team. Manchester United reportedly have no plans to replace Ashworth currently.
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That’s not the only decision that Ratcliffe has been criticised for. The then manager Erik ten Hag had been handed a contract extension in July this year till June 2026, only to be sacked three months later. United had won the FA Cup last season, but had endured an eighth-place finish in the Premier League, which was their lowest league finish since the 1989-90 season.
Ten Hag’s sacking cost Manchester United more than £15 million, according to a report in the BBC. This was after United spent £564 million in the last two years to support Erik ten Hag’s ambitions at the club.
Former football players and football experts have criticised Ratcliffe for his poor management of Manchester United.
“The optics are awful,” Jamie Carragher, former England and Liverpool player, said on Sky Sports News. “Who knows, in the future we might look back and think [getting rid of Ashworth] was the right decision, but when you look at it from the outside, it doesn’t look good.
“Since INEOS came in, I’m not sure it could have gone much worse. They won the FA Cup, but they kept the manager, who they didn’t really want and spent £200m in the transfer market,” he added.
“They’ve had to sack a manager early in the season, and the sporting director [Ashworth] who they chased from another Premier League club, and obviously paid big money for him in sporting director terms now he’s gone a few months later. If you’re a Manchester United fan, that initial joy of someone else being in charge and it not being the Glazers, it was almost anyone but the Glazers, I don’t think it’s been a great start at all.
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“It’s been really poor from Jim Ratcliffe and the INEOS team, and it needs to change really quickly,” stated the 46-year-old.
Former Manchester United player Gary Neville too minced no words. “I worked with Dan at the FA for two years, and he’s been very successful everywhere he has been. I’m most shocked this has happened, it’s not a great look at all. It’s something that’s going to need a lot of explaining.
“The statement the club have put out is really poor. Man Utd haven’t had a voice for 10 years. They’ve lost their authority and their boldness. They’ve been getting it back a little bit in the last 12 months, but it’s really clear there’s a fracture here,” Neville said on NBC regarding the dismissal of Dan Ashworth.
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