Tribal Football

Jordan: Ratcliffe and his team have it all to prove at Man Utd

Paul Vegas
Jordan: Ratcliffe and his team have it all to prove at Man Utd
Jordan: Ratcliffe and his team have it all to prove at Man UtdAction Plus
Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan says Manchester United's new-look management have it all to prove.

Jordan admits Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the team he's assembled have done little to improve things at Old Trafford.

Advertisement
Advertisement

He wrote for the Daily Mail: "Any residual patience felt towards Sir Jim Ratcliffe for early mistakes, such as not only keeping Erik ten Hag but effectively making him a first appointment by extending his contract, will be over if Ruben Amorim doesn't work out.

"Even if it won't be Sir Jim's head on the chopping block - you aren't getting rid of someone who has paid more than a billion quid for 27 per cent of the club - questions would have to be asked of the executives he's appointed; Dan Ashworth, Omar Berrada and Sir Dave Brailsford.

"For a variety of reasons, they have so far looked to me like a case of the blind leading the deaf.

"Sir Jim, a remarkable businessman who should improve things eventually at Old Trafford, has assembled his sporting team to give him the right information in order to make good decisions. We are about to find out more about their supposed expertise when the Amorim era begins on Sunday.

"Sporting director Dan Ashworth was adept at finding players on a smaller budget at Brighton and Newcastle but there is a different level of expectation making top-end decisions at Man United.

"Sir Jim thought that paying a £20milion release clause for him was worthwhile. Like all expensive recruits, it is a reasonable to expect Ashworth to live up to his reputation. He's now in a market where every player coveted at Old Trafford goes up in price.

"Brailsford, he of the marginal gains and head of sport at Ratcliffe's company Ineos, was the supposed supporter of retaining hapless Erik, and the purveyor of portable knowledge. I read somebody say that if you found Brailsford in bed with your wife, he'd convince you it was your idea!

"As for chief executive Berrada, he was previously chief football operations officer at Manchester City, a job requiring different skills.

"It's not an automatic red flag, the accomplished Manchester United CEO David Gill was initially a finance director. But working for a club which is far from philanthropic is a major shift from one owned by a Gulf state with a burning ambition to establish itself as a world force."