Sir Jim Ratcliffe has apologised to fans, admitting that Manchester United should have dismissed former manager Erik ten Hag earlier. The Dutchman was relieved of his duties in October. Ratcliffe and his United associates considered potential replacements for Ten Hag before activating a year’s extension in his contract, only to terminate his services two months into the new season at a cost of £10.4million.
United also courted Newcastle sporting director Dan Ashworth for several months, only for him to leave less than six months into his tenure, with an additional compensation of £3m paid out following his dismissal. Ratcliffe, who has become a controversial figure since taking over at United a year ago, acknowledged both were expensive blunders and has apologised to fans for these errors.
“We are not perfect, and we are on a journey, and there have been a couple of errors along the way, but I think in the main all the things we are doing are the right things for the club,” Ratcliffe stated. One such mistake was the appointment of sporting director Ashworth, who departed the role after just five months.
“I agree the Erik ten Tag and Dan Ashworth decisions were errors. I think there were some mitigating circumstances, but ultimately they were errors. I accept that and I apologise for that.
“If you look at the time we made the decision about Erik the management team hadn’t been in place more than five minutes,” he elaborated, adding that it was challenging to evaluate the Dutchman’s performance under the previous administration, reports the Mirror.
“It became clearer three months later and we got it wrong, but we’d moved on. I think we corrected it and we are in a very different place today.”
United, currently languishing at 14th in the league standings, have set an ambitious target to clinch the title by 2028 – the year marking the club’s 150th anniversary.
“I don’t think it’s mission impossible. I think it’s good to have goals and objectives,” Ratcliffe said. “If you look at Arsenal, if you look at Liverpool, if you look at the period of time it took them to get the house in order and get back to winning ways, that’s probably slightly on the short end of the spectrum. But it’s not impossible.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk