According to reports, Dan Ashworth’s comments about former Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag ‘infuriated’ Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
At the start of this year, Ratcliffe purchased a minority stake in the Premier League giants to become a co-owner. He took control of footballing matters at Man Utd as part of this deal.
The British billionaire has had a busy few months as he’s moved to appoint the best in class in various departments. He has overhauled their recruitment team and acquired sporting director Ashworth, technical director Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada.
Ashworth left Premier League rivals Newcastle United to join Man Utd, who had to pay a compensation package of around £3m to secure his services.
Ratcliffe and Co. have had to make big decisions in recent months. They initially stuck with Ten Hag in the summer, but he was sacked at the end of October.
READ: Manchester United have backed Ruben Amorim at Dan Ashworth’s expense – now it better pay off
The Dutchman was fortunate to keep his job after Man Utd finished eighth in the Premier League last season. He was dismissed after their disappointing 2-1 loss against West Ham left them 14th.
On Sunday morning, Ashworth’s departure from Man Utd was announced. A report from The Daily Mail claims his ‘comments’ about Ten Hag ‘infuriated Ratcliffe and paved the way for the United sporting director’s shock exit after less than five months’.
The report claims.
‘In early September the sporting director, who left the club on Sunday morning after less than five months in the role in a stunning development, gave an interview with chief executive Omar Berrada to a number of media outlets.
‘Within it, both pointed out that the decision to retain the Dutchman – which ended up backfiring spectacularly – was not theirs and was taken prior to their arrivals.’
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‘Insiders have disclosed that those comments subsequently went down ‘like a lead balloon’ with co-owner Ratcliffe, who appeared to set the record straight in his own interview a month later, with the club faltering badly and Ten Hag heading for the exit.
‘In an appearance on his yacht in Monaco, the billionaire petrochemicals magnate told the BBC that the decision on Ten Hag’s future was ‘not my call’ and when asked if he still had faith in the Ajax boss he added: ‘I don’t want to answer that question’.’
ESPN have revealed a couple of reasons why Ratcliffe ‘quickly became unimpressed’ by Ashworth.
‘One source told ESPN that Sir Jim Ratcliffe, United’s minority owner and principal decision-maker, had quickly become unimpressed by Ashworth, believing he lacked the personality and skill set to do the job.
‘So rather than allow an unsatisfactory situation to deteriorate, a decision was made to act now in a dramatic damage-limitation exercise.
‘Sources said that relations between Ashworth and Ratcliffe had been “rocky” for weeks, but that the swiftness of the decision to part company on Sunday morning has surprised many at the club.’
