Forget the team's slide. The form collapse. Such things are temporary. They can be fixed. But the way Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos crowd are cutting their way through the culture and history of this club could well be irrecoverable.
No class. No integrity. There's no getting around it. The behaviour of this lot is a disgrace. News of Ratcliffe's cost-cutting now reaching an ex-players' charity just the latest actions from a management team which are showing more and more of how little they know about running a football club.
It broke last week: the annual £40,000 club contribution to the Association of Former Manchester United Players had been axed. Discontinued. And while in the aftermath the protests were loud and righteous - that wasn't the half of it.
Because, y'see, this Ineos lot didn't even inform the Association of their decision. The Trustee, Jim Elms, a former United player, who has been involved with the charity for almost 40 years, had to do some digging himself. There was no call from Ratcliffe. Nothing from Omar Berrada, the chief exec. After not one, but two of the regular £10,000 installments had not landed in the charity's account, it was up to Jim, 84, to chase up the club and ask just what was going on? Again, no class. No integrity. A charity created by former United players. To serve former United players in their time of need. Abandoned. Without any word or explanation.
“We’ve ran it since 1985," Jim told The Sun. “Keeping the old players together. Looking after the ones that couldn’t pay for funerals.
“I just can’t understand them myself. It’s ridiculous.”
You can't understand it, Jim? Well, none of us can. Though it's becoming par for the course with Ratcliffe and this lot. As we say, the illustration of the fan and player shaking hands on the United Review's front cover is fast losing it's meaning.
There's something broken with this lot. And perhaps Jim should've been warned as we've highlighted it in past columns. The treatment of this ex-players charity no different to how Ineos view and treat the club's existing staff.
And nothing could showcase that more than another story we had out of Old Trafford this week regarding Bruno Fernandes. Ratcliffe's decision not to include staff for last season's trip to Wembley for the FA Cup final is now infamous. But it gets worse, folks.
Again, y'see, Fernandes was so stunned by the decision that the club's captain approached management and offered to bankroll the trip for staff himself. Bruno would take care of the tickets, the travel, the accommodation. Everything. Ratcliffe and Ineos may fail to recognise it. But a football club is about inclusion. Everyone is connected. Involved. From Sir Matt to Sir Alex, through to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. That's how the place was run. While Ratcliffe wanted to penny pinch, Fernandes was happy to offer a solution to keep everyone happy and together.
Yet, management vetoed the idea. Why? Well, that's yet to come to light. Pettiness? Nastiness? Take your pick. But like an annual 40-grand contribution to a charity created by and for ex-United players, Fernandes' actions - and their benefits - were something this lot could not get their head around.
Defeat at Wolves a week ago meant a fifth loss in ten games for Ruben Amorim. Not since Walter Crickmer, in 1932, has a United manager experienced such a start. And the Portuguese isn't being helped by the behaviour and actions of those above him.
Ratcliffe can't see it. Berrada, perhaps, doesn't understand it. But at a football club, everything and everyone are connected. The players. The staff. They want to be proud being part of Manchester United. But how can you be proud with decisions like what we've seen this past week? And further, why would you want to be associated with an organisation who behaved, as the top brass did, in carrying out these decisions?
At 84, Jim Elm should be looking back at 40 years of work with pride. As should those inside United who helped his charity serve so many connected to the club. Instead, he was cut loose. Abandoned by a club that he'd done so much for.
On and off the pitch, Manchester United are spiraling. And we all know who's to blame...