Paul Scholes launches stunning attack on Sir Jim Ratcliffe at Man United, saying he’s done ‘NOTHING positive’ and slamming his £66 tickets after new co-owner sacked Sir Alex Ferguson

Paul Scholes launched a sharp rebuke of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s rule over Manchester United, claiming ‘nothing positive’ has happened since Ineos took over.

He aimed a particular attack at the “ridiculous” ticket prices that are alienating many fans.

United are on course for their worst ever Premier League season, sitting 13th in the table, but raised basic ticket prices without consultation to £66 in November, almost tripling costs for children.

It appears to have fallen short of its promise to ‘work with fans’ to return the club to the ‘top of English, European and world football’ when Ineos completed their £1.3 billion partial takeover in December 2023.

‘[Ineos Group] have been in charge [of Manchester United] for almost a year and everything is still negative. I can’t think of anything positive they’ve done for the football club,” Scholes told The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky bet.

‘It’s getting worse on the football pitch, so couldn’t they have just said they would offer cheaper tickets? Can’t they just give us something positive? How can you ask Manchester United fans to pay more money with what is on the football pitch?

’66 pounds for a ticket is ridiculous. When you think of Manchester there are so many deprived areas and Sir Jim Ratcliffe himself is from Failsworth, a deprived area. If you bring one child that’s £120, if you bring a family you’re looking at £300-400 – that’s not right.

‘Where do these owners get the front to raise ticket prices? For value we are probably having our worst ever Premier League season and they have the audacity to jack up the prices.

‘Nothing positive is happening with that football club. The team looks average. They don’t do anything for the fans.

“If we have Sir Jim Ratcliffe, compared to all these American owners, who has been a United fan since he grew up in an area in Manchester, he is still raising prices. It just shows that they don’t care.”

United fans lined up in their hundreds outside Old Trafford before December’s match against Everton to protest against the rise in ticket prices.

In front of the Trinity Statue, United fans held a ‘Stop Exploiting Loyalty’ banner, with chants against Ratcliffe and the Glazers, accusing them of being ‘touts’ and ‘taking the p***’. There were also protests at Anfield on Sunday when the Red Devils drew 2-2 with Liverpool.

Ratcliffe and Ineos presented their takeover of football operations as one that would improve efficiency and maximize expenditure on the squad.

And spending money on players has been a big part of their regime – they spent a further £200m on signings over the summer, although the impact was questionable.

But the Failsworth-born petrochemical billionaire has left fans and staff in stitches with a series of morale-lowering decisions – something he admitted he would do.

Ineos has cut almost a quarter of the club’s 1,100-strong workforce to save between £35 million and 45 million a year and cut back on their traditional benefits, such as covering their travel to the FA Cup final.

More senior staff had already lost their company credit cards and chauffeured cars, and matchday staff at Old Trafford had their free lunch boxes withdrawn in another blow to morale.

That came after he banned working from home and told staff: ‘If you don’t like it, please find another job.’

In November it emerged that Ratcliffe was considering halving United’s £40,000 annual payment to the club’s disabled supporters’ association. A month later, reports emerged suggesting he had cut two £10,000 installments to the Association of Former Manchester United Players.

Other unpopular decisions have also been made, such as sacking Sir Alex Ferguson from his £2.61m-a-year global ambassadorial role and telling him to stay away from the dressing room, breaking a tradition dating back to the days of Sir Matt Busby.

Senior board members Martin Edwards, David Gill and Mike Edelson were also told they would no longer be allowed to visit the dressing room after games, as they had done for years.

There was also talk of the treatment of the women’s team, which saw them moved to portable buildings so the men could train on their grounds during the planned £50 million renovation of the facilities at their training center in Carrington.

“You can only do so much and our focus was on the men,” he told fanzine United We Stand.

Over the summer, he told Bloomberg that he is okay with making “unpopular” calls.

“At Manchester United I have to do some things that are not popular,” he said.

“I mean, I think ultimately doing hard things, and you know, a certain amount of unpopularity, in a funny way, could make you more popular.

“Because someone sees you standing up and making tough decisions, instead of just kind of blowing with the wind.”

Paul Scholes spoke on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky bet.