Dan Ashworth's tenure as Manchester United sporting director is over - and a new report has claimed that passing of the buck on the club's football business since his appointment in July shone a light on tensions behind the scenes.
The Red Devils said goodbye to Ashworth on Saturday after a home defeat against Nottingham Forest, a meeting at Old Trafford and an agreement to terminate the former Brighton, Newcastle and FA man's five-month stint at the club.
United's transfer dealings in the summer of 2024 have been widely questioned. The acquisition of Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs De Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Joshua Zirkzee has had precious little positive impact on the team's fortunes on the field.
A change of manager just months after Erik ten Hag escaped an apparently imminent sacking merely strengthens the stench of chaos in the club's football operations.
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Ten Hag's fingerprints appeared to be all over the glass of a summer transfer window that brought in a group of players that were primarily either former Ten Hag players at Ajax or known to him through Dutch football.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, none of the men in positions of power at Old Trafford were willing to take responsibility for either those signings or the out-in-out decision on the future of Ten Hag.
In September, Ashworth and United chief executive Omar Berrada washed their hands of the decision to keep Ten Hag in May.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who bought a 25% stake in Man Utd and installed his INEOS outfit as the controlling influence over football operations, was reportedly 'infuriated' by the suggestion that keeping Ten Hag in place before replacing him with Ruben Amorim months later was his decision.
According to a report by the Daily Mail, Ratcliffe denied making the call to retain Ten Hag and declined to give the then-manager his backing.
"While Ashworth, who is close to Gareth Southgate, had a say in the firing [of Ten Hag], it was then interesting to note that there was no quote from him when United unveiled Ruben Amorim as his successor last month," wrote Mike Keegan.
After Amorim's first defeat on Saturday, tensions came to a head. A home defeat to Forest left the Red Devils in 13th place, closer in points terms to Southampton at the bottom of the Premier League than Liverpool at the top. Ashworth agreed to a termination that is understood to have been driven from within the club rather than by his own choice.
United's dismal 2024-25 continues and Ratcliffe appears to have cut his losses. With both Ten Hag and Ashworth now gone, Ratcliffe faces the task of bringing stability and on-field progress to a club whose fortunes have not improved since he arrived.
Topics: Manchester United, Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Chris Nee