‘One or two errors’: Ratcliffe comments shed light on Ashworth departure
Manchester United are searching for a new sporting director after splitting from Dan Ashworth, the man who was supposed to be a key architect of the team’s revival.
United waited for almost half a year to prise Ashworth from his contract at Newcastle United but have dispensed with him midway through his first full season.
It follows Saturday’s 3-2 home defeat to Nottingham Forest, which left the club 13th in the Premier League – their lowest position after 15 games of a top-flight season since 1986.
“Dan Ashworth will be leaving his role as sporting director of Manchester United by mutual agreement,” they said in a statement.
“We would like to thank Dan for his work and support during a transitional period for the club and wish him well for the future.”
While United have described the decision as a mutual one, widespread reports suggest the 53-year-old former Brighton, West Brom and England director was sacked.
Ashworth is believed to have carried the can for a summer in which the club failed to appoint a new manager, handed Erik ten Hag a new deal and spent around £200m on new players.
Ten Hag was sacked last month at a cost of around £10m, while signings such as Joshua Zirkzee, Manuel Ugarte and Matthijs De Ligt have performed below expectations.
Ashworth arrived at Old Trafford as a mutual admirer of Sir Dave Brailsford, right-hand-man to United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe in his Ineos sporting empire.
But Ashworth is said to have felt sidelined by Brailsford and new CEO Omar Berrada, notably over the hiring of Ruben Amorim from Sporting Lisbon as Ten Hag’s replacement.
It continues a period of turbulence at the 20-time English champions, who have had a new co-owner, CEO, sporting director, technical director and manager arrive within 12 months.
Ratcliffe has also come under fire for making 200 redundancies and raising ticket prices for the rest of the season, doing away with concessions for young and old fans.
Confirmation of Ashworth’s departure came a day after the publication of an interview in which Ratcliffe admitted to making mistakes in recruitment.
“If I hadn’t done Nice and Lausanne then we wouldn’t have come into United knowing that it’s quite a journey to get to the point where your antenna is working,” the British billionaire, referring to his French and Swiss teams, told the United We Stand fanzine.
“Our antenna wasn’t perfect at United and we’ve made one or two errors, but they’re a lot better than they would have been if we’d not done Nice and Lausanne.”