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Jim Ratcliffe feels Manchester United made a ‘mistake’ not only by signing the new deal with Erik Ten Hag but also by appointing Dan Ashworth as the sporting director.
Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe (AP/PTI)
Jim Ratcliffe has shared his thoughts on the departure of Dan Ashworth, who left Manchester United in December last year, only five months after joining as the sporting director. The Old Trafford hierarchy made the best efforts to bring Ashworth from Newcastle United Manchester United formally approached their fellow English club for Ashworth in February 2024 and the deal was finalised in July 2024. After the end of the 2023-24 season, the Red Devils also handed a contract extension to former coach Erik Ten Hag despite finishing eighth in the Premier League table.
Ratcliffe, who owns a minority share of Manchester United, feels the club made a ‘mistake’ not only by signing the new deal with Ten Hag, but also by appointing Ashworth as the sporting director. The decisions of parting ways with the duo cost United around £15 million. Ratcliffe opened up about the turbulent situation during a recent interview with The Times.
“Yeah, they were just mistakes. I mean, the Erik thing is slightly mitigating. There was quite a lot of debate about that at the time. It wasn’t just the FA Cup final. The fans thought we’d like to stick with him and all that sort of stuff. But yeah, they were both mistakes. I don’t think we can say much more than that,” the British businessman explained.
“It’s a journey and there’s a lot of decisions that we have to make throughout that and we’re not going to get them all right. I don’t think in the future we’ll get them all right either because we’re not perfect,” he added.
Ratcliffe, however, refused to say much about Ashworth, perhaps due to legal reasons. “If we’re talking about our industry, I think we just have to say chemistry. But I don’t want to go down that road,” he said.
Ratcliffe further admitted that it was an emotional response to extend the contract of Ten Hag after the FA Cup win against Manchester City. “We get criticised for being unemotional and yet there was a bit of emotion in that decision,” Ratcliffe said.
Manchester United have yet to match the expectations under Ruben Amorim who succeeded Ten Hag to become the permanent manager in November last year. They remain 14th in the current Premier League standings, having managed nine wins in 28 matches this season.
