Manchester United sacked Erik ten Hag in October and soon enough Dan Ashworth was relieved of his duties as sporting director, having only been at the club five months
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Updated 09:22, 25 Mar 2025
Dan Ashworth and Ruben Amorim
Dan Ashworth ended up welcoming Ruben Amorim(Image: Manchester United)
The two candidates who Dan Ashworth wanted to appoint when Manchester United sacked Erik ten Hag have emerged. Following a dismal start to the season, Ten Hag was dismissed on October 28, with his last game proving to be a controversial and late 2-1 defeat away to West Ham.
United quickly resumed their search for a new manager, having put the feelers out over the summer when Ten Hag's position was under threat. Former Brighton and FA chief Ashworth was one of the key decision-makers in extending the Dutchman's contract and backing him with nearly £200million worth of signings in the summer transfer window.
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But Ashworth's faith didn't pay off - and he'd soon pay the price. Just weeks after United appointed Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim, the ex-Newcastle sporting director was also sacked.
Ashworth received a £4.1million payoff, having only been at the club since June. One could derive from the decision to sack him that Portuguese boss Amorim wasn't Ashworth's first choice to replace Ten Hag and now the Manchester Evening News have shed light on his personal top two candidates.
Firstly, Ashworth is said to have endorsed Gareth Southgate after their successful spell together at the FA. Southgate, 54, had stepped down from his role as England manager in July, having suffered his second loss in a major final.
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Another man who Ashworth has experience of working alongside, Eddie Howe, was also advocated for after Ten Hag's two-and-a-half-year reign came to an end. Former Bournemouth boss Howe has done an excellent job at Newcastle and spent two years years working closely with Ashworth.
Evidently, he didn't get either of his wishes, as Amorim got the job. It was reported last month that Ashworth had warned United CEO Omar Berrada about the 'mass disruption' Amorim's appointment would cause and results on the pitch are yet to show whether he's the right man.
Would Gareth Southgate or Eddie Howe be doing a better job than Ruben Amorim? Have your say in the comments section.
Gareth Southgate
Gareth Southgate left his post as England manager in July
Ashworth is currently looking for his next challenge, having failed to strike up the right 'chemistry' at Old Trafford. In a recent interview with Gary Neville via The Overlap, United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe shed light on the reasons behind Ashworth's shock departure, and the 'error' of appointing him in the first place after months of fraught negotiations with Newcastle.
"You may know Dan better than I do," Ratcliffe told Neville. "I'm sure, in fact, you do. I don't want to go into the details of it because I don't think it serves much purpose.
Eddie Howe lifts the Carabao Cup trophy.
Eddie Howe recently ended Newcastle's 69-year trophy drought
"At the end of the day, it was chemistry. Maybe a bit more than chemistry, but let's just say chemistry and it didn't work. Just chemistry. I know it's an unpopular decision and it's seen as an error, and it was an error, but slightly in our defence, we did recognise it as something that would not work and therefore we decided we would make a change.
"What would have been far easier because of the scrutiny that we knew we would get in the media would have been to live with it, but I wasn't prepared to live with it."
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