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Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made a jaw-dropping admission about his time at the helm of the club.
Ratcliffe’s turbulent spell
Having assumed operational control of the club in February 2024, Ratcliffe immediately went about implementing a raft of extremely unpopular cost-cutting measures that put him at loggerheads with the fanbase and insiders within Old Trafford.
The INEOS billionaire implemented sweeping cost-cutting measures: hundreds of staff were made redundant, Sir Alex Ferguson’s ambassadorial contract was terminated, executive credit cards and employee perks were scrapped, and season ticket prices were hiked, sparking fan protests.
Yet, for all his radical moves, United’s fortunes on the pitch continued to deteriorate.
Ratcliffe and the football leadership made the ill-advised decision to keep Erik ten Hag after the FA Cup triumph over Manchester City, only to sack him just a few months later. There was also the humiliating dismissal of Dan Ashworth just five months into his position as United’s sporting director.
INEOS then turned to an unproven Ruben Amorim, a manager whose preferred style sat in complete opposition to the club’s traditions.
Under Amorim, United finished a lowly 15th place in the Premier League and also lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur. Once again, Ratcliffe and the board chose to ignore the mounting proof that Amorim was out of his depth.
It took a vitriolic public rant and a fractured relationship with the board for them to finally part ways with the combative Portuguese coach, long after many felt the axe should have fallen.
Michael Carrick was brought in to serve as caretaker boss until the end of the season and there has been a notable improvement.
Carrick remains unbeaten, winning four and drawing one of the five games he has taken charge of. United sit in fourth place in the Premier League table and firmly in the frame to finish within the guaranteed Champions League Places.
Ratcliffe spoke to Sky Sports on the fringes of the European Industry Summit in Antwerp and admitted that he has been “very unpopular” at United, although he insisted the benefits of his tough measures are starting to show.
Ratcliffe’s admission
The British businessman said, “I’ve seen quite a bit of this at the football club (people making unpopular decisions).”
“If you do difficult things, which we felt that we had to do at Manchester United… we felt like they were the right things to do. But you do become very unpopular for a while.”
He added, “Well, I’ve been very unpopular at Manchester United because we’ve made lots of changes.”
“But for the better, in my view. And I think we’re beginning to see some evidence in the football club that that’s beginning to pay off.”
Before turning his attention to United, Ratcliffe had claimed that Britain has been “colonised” by immigrants, accusing them of draining state resources. He made the remarks in an effort to highlight what he sees as the political, social and economic challenges destroying the country.
United are not in action this weekend, given they were eliminated from the FA Cup by Brighton and Hove Albion at the first hurdle last month. The Red Devils are next in action against Everton on February 23.
Featured image by Justin Setterfield via Getty Images
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