Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s 12 big mistakes so far at Man United: CHRIS WHEELER on a turbulent first year of Ineos at Old Trafford

In the first year of Ineos, Sir Jim Ratcliffe gave me…

Yes, Christmas Eve will mark the anniversary of Ratcliffe’s £1.3 billion minority takeover of Manchester United.

It was greeted with hope and anticipation by fans who had become disillusioned after two decades of Glazer ownership, and with disappointment by those who would have preferred a full takeover by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar.

Still, everyone except the Glazers was eager for an improvement, and even more so when the American owners handed over day-to-day management of the club to Ratcliffe.

Ineos would argue with some justification that they have made tough decisions on behalf of the Glazers and done their dirty work to turn around a company that has lost £300 million in the last three years.

But some decisions were very unpopular and damaged the structure of the club. As Ineos’ 12 months at United draws to a close, Mail Sport reflects on Ratcliffe’s revolution.

Dan Ashworth axe

Of all the cuts Ratcliffe has made, Ashworth had the deepest feeling because here a top sporting director had been appointed by the new co-owners to oversee recruitment, only to be ruthlessly sacked after just 159 days.

Yes, Ratcliffe has acted decisively, but it strongly suggests a discord in the brain trust put together to run the club, and casts doubt on Ineos’ judgement.

The staff are shocked by the news of Ashworth’s departure, which comes at a time when morale is at an all-time low.

Ten Hag U-turn

One of the reasons for Ashworth’s dismissal was his role in the decision to retain manager Erik ten Hag in the summer.

Ineos, who appeared indecisive and rather cruel by interviewing a number of candidates for Ten Hag’s job before United won the FA Cup final in May, then appeared inept when they gave the Dutchman a new contract in July, leaving him less than four months later fired.

In addition to United starting to look for a manager mid-season, it also cost the club more compensation because Ten Hag had signed a new contract until 2026.

Rearrangement of the back room

Despite retaining Ten Hag, United dispensed with the services of his coaches – Mitchell van der Gaag, Benni McCarthy and Richard Hartis – in the summer.

Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rene Hake and Jelle ten Rouwelaar were brought in, but had the shortest stay when Ruben Amorim came over from Sporting Lisbon with his own backroom team last month.

The change in coaching staff cost United £21.4 million; a total of £10.4 million for Ten Hag and his three coaches, and £11 million to sign Amorim from Sporting.

At a time of ever-tightening profit and sustainability margins, and brutal job cuts, this was money United found it difficult to pay.

A further £200 million was spent

The other consequence of keeping Ten Hag was that Ashworth’s only transfer window saw another £200 million in new signings for the Dutchman.

They included Leny Yoro, who was recruited from Lille for £59million even though a metatarsal problem was revealed during his medical treatment. He suffered a fracture during the preparation and was out of action for four months.

Noussair Mazraoui was one of the better signings, but it turned out that he had a heart condition after he came over from Bayern Munich with another former Ajax player from Ten Hag, Matthijs de Ligt.

Manuel Ugarte and Joshua Zirkzee were the other additions as United sat 13th in the Premier League after the club’s worst start since 1986.

Staff jobs are disappearing

Nothing has caused morale at United to plummet more than Ratcliffe’s decision to cut almost a quarter of the club’s 1,100 staff in a bid to save between £35m and 45m a year. Many long-serving workers have disappeared, while those who remain have to work harder for the same pay.

At-risk personnel were not allowed on the pre-season US tour, with some only finding out a few days before their departure. Those who went thought they were safe, but even then a handful discovered during the journey that their jobs were also in jeopardy.

Setback at Old Trafford

One of the most exciting aspects of Ratcliffe’s tenure has been his plan to turn Old Trafford into a 100,000-seat ‘Wembley of the North’. However, financing the £2 billion-plus project is a huge challenge and Ratcliffe quickly realized that taxpayers would not accept a club as big as United receiving Leveling Up money from the government to cover the stadium bill. help pay.

The future of Old Trafford is now at stake, with a redevelopment of the existing site still a possibility.

Increase in ticket price

Ratcliffe has outraged fans in recent days by increasing the ticket price for members to £66 and axing concessions for children and pensioners. It has led to demonstrations outside Old Trafford and the first signs of anti-Ratcliffe dissent at the stadium.

“You can’t be popular all the time,” he said in an interview last weekend, fearing this would lead to a rise in season ticket prices next year.

Fire Fergie

Not even Sir Alex Ferguson is safe from the cost cuts, after the legendary United boss was informed by Ratcliffe over lunch in October that he would lose his £2.1million contract as club ambassador at the end of the season. “I will throw all the executives of Manchester United into a big bag of shit,” was Eric Cantona’s response.

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.

Cuts to disabled fans

Last month it emerged that Ratcliffe was even considering halving the £40,000 annual budget given to the Manchester United Disabled Supporters’ Association.

United claim they need to borrow the money after their latest financial results showed the club had eaten through £232.3 million of their revolving credit facility at the end of September, compared to £35.6 million in June.

But a MUDSA insider said: ‘The optics would be terrible – it feels like the club has lost touch with its soul.’

Zero tolerance

Ratcliffe doesn’t mince his words when he feels like it, and at times his uncompromising approach has done little to improve the mood among the staff.

In May, he imposed a ban on working from home, saying: “If you don’t like it, please find another job.”

After an unannounced visit to Carrington, he sent an email warning that sloppiness would not be tolerated and describing the state of the IT department as a “disgrace” – even though sources claimed it was actually a MUTV studio .

Women’s team sucks

Ratcliffe’s determination to pour resources and money into the first team has only added to the perception that he is not particularly interested in United’s women.

Instead of watching them win the FA Cup for the first time at Wembley in May, he opted to watch the men in action against Arsenal at Old Trafford.

“You can only do so much, and our focus was on the men,” he said in a fanzine interview last weekend.

Benefits revoked

When the men’s team reached the cup final later that month, Ratcliffe broke tradition by telling staff they had to pay for their own transport, food and hotel accommodation.

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.

Oh, and the United Christmas party is no more…