Manchester United fans woke up this Sunday morning to the shocking news that sporting director Dan Ashworth has left Manchester United by mutual consent after just five months at the club.
The decision appears to have been made following yesterday’s disappointing 2-3 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford, after which Ashworth was seen exiting through the media room with his head down following a meeting with CEO Omar Berrada.
The news of Ashworth’s departure was broken this morning by David Ornstein of The Athletic but what was not covered in the outlet’s excellent report was the reason for the rift between club part owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the man he had described as “one of the top sporting directors in the world”.
But it would seem that the problem came about due to the decision not to sack former manager Erik ten Hag in the summer.
In an article in The Mail Online on 5th November, reporter Craig Hope claimed that “we have heard that United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is now furious with Ashworth and Sir Dave Brailsford… for insisting they stuck with Erik ten Hag in the summer.”
This is an interesting claim given that in September, Ashworth was asked directly what influence he had had on the decision to keep Ten Hag.
“I didn’t start until July 1, so none whatsoever,” he replied.
However, this response could have been a necessary lie. Due to the wrangling between United and Newcastle over Ashworth’s compensation package, he was put on gardening leave by the former for several months.
This made it illegal for him to be involved in any decision making at Old Trafford until his official start date. As he pointedly remarks, that was not until 1st July, whereas the decision not to sack Ten Hag was made in June.
The only way both these reports could be true is if Ashworth really was involved in the decision but could not admit to it because it would be also admitting he was working for United while still under contract at Newcastle.
Ultimately, the timing of the departure coming immediately after a match, as seems to be the case, suggests that there was more to it than that.
Nonetheless, if Ratcliffe really did blame Ashworth for the Ten Hag decision, whatever transpired yesterday may have merely been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
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Red Billy
Red Billy is the managing editor of The Peoples Person, author of three books and totally obsessed with football’s transfer market. Billy still insists Matteo Darmian and Alex Telles could have made it at United given half a chance.
