Ruthless nature of Ashworth departure not matched on-field at Old Trafford
EXIT DOOR: Former Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth, who has left the club after just five months. Pic: Mike Egerton/PA Wire.
DAN Ashworth’s shock departure as sporting director of Manchester United sent out a huge signal of intent from minority owner Jim Ratcliffe. Unfortunately, for all involved at Old Trafford, there are precious few other signs that any major steps forward are currently being taken.
The 90-plus minutes against Nottingham Forest on Saturday proved that. after which Ashworth was, to all intents and purposes, fired although the club claimed later that the decision was “mutual.”
Ashworth was axed after just five months in his role at United, during which time he oversaw yet another disastrous transfer window and was part of the “brains trust” that handed Erik ten Hag a contract extension, only short months before sacking him in October.
It was telling that Saturday saw the publication of a rare Ratcliffe interview, with a fans’ magazine rather than a “traditional” media outlet, in which he criticised the club’s transfer policy in recent years, and, particularly, its lack of data analysis in identifying targets.
The blame for the last 12 years, of post-Alex Ferguson incompetence, clearly cannot be laid at the door of Ashworth but, by the same token, Ratcliffe had clearly not seen enough from the 53-year-old to warrant keeping him in his job.
And so, Ashworth leaves after five months in the job - the same length of time he was forced to stay on gardening leave by his old employers Newcastle, who then managed to get a reported £2 million in compensation for his services out of United.
In the climate of Ratcliffe raising the minimum ticket prices at Old Trafford to £66, that does not represent good business, and represents even worse public relations optics.
“£66, you’re having a laugh,” sang United fans as Forest collected their first win at Old Trafford in almost exactly 30 years. “£66. You’re debt, not ours,” read a banner in the Stretford End.
There still remains an abundance of goodwill and patience towards new manager Ruben Amorim among the United faithful but the same cannot be said about their attitude to billionaire Ratcliffe, no matter how many times he trots out his tired back story of growing up a United fan in a Manchester council house.
There is no sense, at present, that Amorim is anything other than a sound appointment by Ratcliffe’s new-look hierarchy and there has been zero dissent from the fan base towards him.
But the simple fact remains that, with every passing press conference, the Portuguese coach is stressing the need for patience, that a rebuild of the faltering club will take time. Time which, of course, is never readily available in top-class football.
For now, Amorim is offering a master class in damage limitation and crisis management - literally and figuratively. He brings a healthy perspective to his job and was doing so again after the Forest defeat.
Crisis? What crisis?
“I had this and worse at Sporting in the beginning,” said Amorim, of his last job in Lisbon. “The feeling for me is the same.
“For the world, it’s completely different because Manchester United have a lot of attention, but for me, it’s the same feeling and, if you’re a little bit experienced in football, this happens at a lot of clubs. We have to manage, to continue to do the same things, improving the team, because this will turn around.”
The law of averages, of course, should guarantee that Amorim is correct and United’s fortunes will improve but the question is how long will that take?
For Ashworth, five months was long enough for Ratcliffe to decide he was not up to the job and, while that represents failure on a number of levels, United supporters can take consolation from the fact that their new owner acted quickly to correct a problem.
As far as the playing staff is concerned, the problem will not be so easy to fix.
As Ratcliffe was quick to point out in his interview, the failure in transfer policy has left the club with a host of under-performing, over-valued stars whom United will not be easily able to get off their books.
Lisandro Martinez and goalkeeper Andre Onana were chief culprits here, in conceding the goals scored by Nikola Milenkovic, Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood.
And while United enjoyed many positive moments in attack, plus goals from Rasmus Hojlund and Bruno Fernandes, a draw would have flattered them.
“We already know it will be a long journey, but we want to win because this is a massive club and you feel it when you lose one game, it's really hard for everybody,” said Amorim.
“And I can understand that. I can feel it in the stadium after the first goal. So we understand the context, but we have to keep in the same way, doing the same things.
“The same words that I have here after (the win over) Everton, I have today: continue to focus on the performance, what we need to do, we need to improve a lot of aspects of the game and continue to do the same things tomorrow in training.”
Onana 4; Yoro 5 (Mazraoui 65, 5), de Ligt 5 (Maguire 65, 6), Martinez 4; Diallo 7, Mainoo 7, Ugarte 7 (Zirkzee 75, 5), Dalot 6; Fernandes 8 (Mount 75, 5), Hojlund 7, Garnacho 6 (Rashford 59, 5).
Sels 6; Aina 7, Milenkovic 7, Murillo 6, Williams 6; Anderson 7, Yates 7; Silva 7 (Morato 67, 5) Gibbs-White 8 (Dominguez 78, 5), Hudson-Odoi 7 (Awoniyi 90); Wood 7 (Elanga 78, 5).
D England 7
