Gary Neville believes Dan Ashworth’s exit betrays a clear ‘fracture’ within Manchester United’s leadership and has urged the club to come clean about why he left.
Ashworth was told that he had lost his sporting director job on Saturday just five months after joining from Newcastle with a gilded reputation.
United released a generic statement thanking Ashworth for his work and gave no indication as to why the 53-year-old had been let go.
However, Mail Sport has since revealed that both parties agreed he was not a good ‘fit,’ and that Sir Jim Ratcliffe had been left ‘infuriated’ in September when Ashworth publicly distanced himself from the decision to keep Erik ten Hag.
Now Neville has slammed the club’s ‘weak’ statement and fears the ‘void’ of information is only going to fuel negative speculation among fans.
‘I’m really shocked that this has happened. It’s not a great look at all and it’s something that will need explaining. I think the statement that the club has put out is really poor,’ he told NBC Sports.
Dan Ashworth’s exit from Man United was not ‘mutual’ like the club claimed, says Gary Neville
Neville has slammed United for a ‘weak statement’ and points to a high-level ‘fracture’ at the club
‘Manchester United haven’t had a voice for 10 years – they’ve lost their authority, their boldness. I think they’ve been getting it back a bit in the last 12 months but what’s really clear is that there is a fracture here, something has happened.
‘You can’t bring someone in at the level of Dan Ashworth and then lose him after five months and think something hasn’t gone wrong. The fans are now going to ask the question: what’s gone wrong? They’re going to speculate, it’s going to leave huge voids.
‘I think you’re better off punching us in the face with the truth sometimes when it’s so obvious that there’s been something that has gone wrong between the personalities of Dan Ashworth, Omar Berrada, Dave Brailsford, whoever it is in the last few months that have obviously not got on with each other or it’s not been working.
‘Just tell us because it’s obvious something has happened. I think that statement is weak.
‘Something like that can’t be mutual. I think when Ineos came into Manchester United everyone knew there were going to be huge changes. There have been massive redundancies in the club with a complete overhaul of the executive of the club in terms of the CEO, CFO, sporting director, technical director, manager obviously just recently as well.
‘You would have expected large changes but not changes for this position. Dan Ashworth was headhunted for many, many months. He was chased for 10 months, on gardening leave for four or five months, he was paid millions of pounds for.
‘I worked with Dan Ashworth at the FA for two years and he’s been very successful wherever he’s been – Brighton, West Brom, the FA, at Newcastle most recently (before United).’
Ashworth was informed of the club’s decision by chief executive Omar Berrada in the wake of Saturday’s 3-2 defeat by Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford, just 159 days into the job.
Ashworth was dismissed as United’s sporting director after five months following United’s 3-2 defeat by Nottingham Forest on Sunday
Mail Sport revealed that Sir Jim Ratcliffe was ‘infuriated’ when Ashworth publicly distanced himself from the the decision to keep Erik ten Hag as manager
Ratcliffe went on to say that the call to keep Ten Hag had not been his own call over the summer
Mail Sport understands that Ashworth was at the game with his family before he was summoned from the directors’ box to a meeting with Berrada who delivered the news.
United released a statement on Sunday which read: ‘Dan Ashworth will be leaving his role as sporting director of Manchester United by mutual agreement.
‘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.’
Although the decision was said to be mutual, it is understood to have been made by Ratcliffe and Brailsford in consultation with co-owner Joel Glazer.
Ashworth spent roughly the same time in the job as he did on gardening leave at Newcastle after United approached their Premier League rivals about taking him to Old Trafford in February.
He started work at United on July 1 after the two clubs agreed a compensation figure of around £3m. United will now have to give Ashworth a pay-off, although it’s understood that the figure will be lower because he has been in the job for less than six months.
United are not thought to be currently seeking a replacement with just a few weeks to go until the transfer window opens. Technical director Jason Wilcox and interim director of recruitment Christopher Vivell could both assume more responsibility in the short-term, and would also be contenders to take on the role of sporting director permanently.
United sources said that Ashworth’s departure was ‘a very difficult decision’ for both parties, adding that the former FA director of football had conducted himself with decency and integrity throughout his time at the club.
Ashworth had previously impressed in roles with West Brom, Brighton, the FA, and Newcastle
But they admitted that new co-owners Ineos have been putting together a leadership team at pace and are still learning about the process, fuelling suspicions that Ashworth did not fit into the new structure put together by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford.
Mail Sport understands there were concerns that Ashworth, who was based at the club’s Carrington training base, wasn’t making enough cuts to the football department as part of a wide-ranging economy drive by Ineos.
There are also claims that he was not totally behind the recent appointment of Ruben Amorim as new head coach, preferring an Englishman such as Gareth Southgate or Graham Potter.
Ratcliffe had previously described Ashworth as a ’10/10 sporting director, one of the best around’, but his comments to fanzine United We Stand on Saturday are even more significant in hindsight.
‘There is major change to come to achieve elite status,’ warned the Ineos billionaire. ‘If you shy away from the difficult decisions, then nothing much is going to change.
‘Manchester United must have the best recruitment in the world. You can’t just flick a light switch and sort out recruitment. It’s all about people and we need to find the right ones.’
