Manchester United bid farewell to their sporting director just months after his promising appointment.
Dan Ashworth joined Manchester United in July as the club’s first Sporting Director in the new era, only to leave five months later.
This sent shockwaves around the world, with many wondering the reasons behind his sacking.
According to reports, the decision was made mutually among the parties, but this will do little to encourage anyone to believe that everything is right at the club.
It is emerging now that new club part-owner Jim Ratcliffe was not overly happy with Ashworth’s performance as a director.
Starting with Erik Ten Hag, it seems the sporting director wanted him to remain despite a poor end to the season.
🚨🚨🌕| JUST IN: Dan Ashworth felt sidelined from big decisions at #mufc, almost from day one with Omar Berrada and Sir Dave Brailsford calling the shots. The tipping point was the Ruben Amorim appointment. Ashworth wanted a British coach, Gareth Southgate. [@alex_crook] pic.twitter.com/WGZjChpvz5
— centredevils. (@centredevils) December 8, 2024
Dan Ashworth’s managerial ideas
Even with the late sacking of the Netherlands manager and leading into Ruben Amorim, reports claim Ashworth wanted Unite to hire a British manager or those based in England.
His options included Eddie Howe, Gareth Southgate, or Graham Potter as interim. Thomas Frank and Marco Silva were also mentioned.
Ratcliffe recently lamented the recruitment structure around United, noting how it was outdated. It seems Ashworth did not impress in his first few months, as the mentioned area is in his court.
A clash of ideas between United CEO Omar Berrada and Ashworth is another reason believed to have caused tension at the club.
