We can debate the morale-sapping accumulation of decisions like removing free lunches and Christmas gifts versus their comparatively miniscule financial benefits, but the broad conclusion was that INEOS were willing to do things their way, regardless of perception. Of course, you cannot run a football club the size of United on public opinion, but it does feel as though Ratcliffe has, at times, personally gone out of his way to make himself unpopular.
And that's all well and good if you're producing the only thing that matters - results on the pitch - but INEOS haven't done so by any measure.
So you might be asking, what has Sir Jim done now? In the face of mounting pressure on Ruben Amorim from fans and media, Ratcliffe declared that his under-fire head coach deserves three years in the role before being judged.
Part of his justification for this stance was: “You can’t run a club like Manchester United on kneejerk reactions to some journalist who goes off on one every week.”
Well, yes, that is true, but it also completely misses the point.
After 50 matches, Amorim is, by some distance, the worst United manager in the Premier League era. 20 victories, 21 losses is a truly dismal return. The Portuguese, an unmitigated success at Sporting CP over several years, is yet to win back-to-back games.
It's a stat that was made for those compilations of incredulous pundits staring wide-eyed at their hosts and barking: '_This is Manchester United we're talking about!'_
Fans don’t need a journalist to tell them to be alarmed by that. No other club of United's stature would tolerate that level of return, never mind downplay it.
And that's not a call for Amorim to be sacked, it's about the billionaire running the club looking paying customers in the eye and telling them the sky is green.
Amorim may well come good in the end, although the supporting evidence is weak, United fans will finally rediscover happiness, and Ratcliffe will claim vindication. Everybody wins. But until that day, telling supporters that their reaction to United's current form is 'kneejerk', is pretty contemptuous stuff.
Between that and Amorim's dizzying emotional swings, United's press officer has a tough assignment these days.
Ratcliffe provided further backing of his position with the well-worn line about how Sir Alex Ferguson was given time, and look how that worked out. But three decades on from Mark Robins scoring the goal that kept Ferguson in a job, it's very much been proven that the legendary Scot's turnaround was a significant exception to the rule.
It's a sentiment that has endured at United, even down to the match going fans continuing to be vocally supportive of managers until the very end. But it's a dangerous one to hang your hat on. If results continue to spiral and United do eventually dispense with Amorim, then Ratcliffe's contrarian stance will be used against him tenfold.
A more recent example was that of Mikel Arteta at Arsenal. The Spaniard has helped turn an ailing club into consistent Premier League title challengers once more, yet he too had a difficult start to life in the job. Where Arteta's situation differed from Amorim, though, is that even amid the inevitable ups and downs of a significant rebuild, there were tangible signs of progress.
He delivered an FA Cup in his first term, and league finishes have steadily improved from 8th to 2nd. United finished 15th last season with Amorim at the helm for most of the season, and their form this term has not improved.
Fans are far more likely to accept bumps in the road if they feel the long-term trajectory is upwards. Amorim has yet to provide evidence of that, which is precisely why supporters are so concerned.
With all that in mind, why would you say that the manager in question deserves three whole years? It feels as though Ratcliffe wants to push back at criticism for the sake of it. Of course, a certain amount of reactions, especially online, are kneejerk, but even the moderate position around United's predicament is veering close to untenable.
In a weird way, some supporters perhaps appreciate the clarity from Ratcliffe, after years wondering what the plan was at Old Trafford. They might not agree with it, they might be getting told they're wrong to be unhappy with it, but at least there's a plan.
Whether United are able to see through three years of Amorim will still depend on results. As is the case with every football club, the ultimate test of senior management's resolve is the financial bottom line. If those results continue to fall short, the bottom line suffers. Owners can make proclamations about changing culture, about refusing to bow to fan pressure, but if the level of on-pitch decline starts to affect club coffers, then it's game over.
What it would take to cross that particular point of no return remains to be seen. United's worst-ever Premier League finish in 2024/25 will also have yielded the lowest ever prize money. There will be no boost from European football, and no club can take completely for granted that supporters will not start to vote with their feet at some point.
As a businessman, no one needs to impress that point upon Ratcliffe. He broke from modern football norms by putting such a long-term scale for success on Amorim's leadership, and perhaps that's refreshing in a way. But I'm just not convinced by his reasons for saying it, nor that he will be able to see it through.