'How dare you defend Ten Hach?' The real underlying situation of Manchester United's dismissal of Ashworth, the owner's fury had already erupted a few weeks ago

Dec 08, 2024

Express article capture

It's sudden in terms of the results, but it's already been predicted. Owner Jim Ratcliffe's anger had already been driving the inside of the club into a horror atmosphere for weeks. The dismissal of general manager Dan Ashworth was a decision made by owner Ratcliffe, who was angered by the poor performance. The reason is that he defended coach Erik ten Hach, who has already been fired.

Ashworth, who joined the team this season under the mission of `Manchester United Revival", was replaced on the 8th (Korea time). The Manchester United club did this on its official website. Ashworth joined Manchester United last July, but will leave the team after just five months.

It was a time when he couldn't fully develop his plan in five months. Conversely, it means that it is a period in which you may be understood to some extent about this season's sluggishness. But the Manchester United club were adamant. As Manchester United continued to remain sluggish after the opening of the season, they decided to dismiss Ashworth as general manager.

First of all, the ostensible reason for the dismissal of Ashworth is the shock defeat against Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2024-2025 season at its home stadium. Manchester United lost 2-3. As a result, Manchester United, which has lost two consecutive league games, fell to 13th place (19 points).

In particular, it was the first time in 30 years that the team lost to Nottingham since December 1994. It is a very shocking and disgraceful result. There is a big flaw in the leadership and leadership of head coach Hu Beng Amorim, who is leading the team.

The impact of the board resin was even greater. In the end, general manager Ashworth also heard the decision to dismiss him after the game. Ashworth met with CEO Omar Verrada after the game and resigned from the position. This is why the defeat against Nottingham seems to be a decisive factor.

However, there have been reports that there are other more decisive factors behind Ashworth's dismissal.

British Express magazine reported that there had been a major conflict between Lord Ratcliffe and Ashworth for weeks already before Ashworth left the team. There were already reports last month that Ashworth could not even make eye contact with owner Ratcliffe.

In summary, Sir Ratcliffe has expressed dissatisfaction and willingness to replace Ashworth long before the results of the match against Nottingham are released.

It is clear why the conflict has become so severe. First of all, the team's performance is a mess. Ashworth also has nothing to say about this.

But the situation is different again. There was another decisive moment for owner Ratcliffe to dislike Ashworth.

Originally, owner Ratcliffe had high trust and expectations for Ashworth. Therefore, he paid 30 million pounds (about 54.5 billion won) in compensation to Newcastle, his original club, but recruited Ashworth. But Ashworth was not a savior.

In particular, he angered owner Ratcliffe because of his policy toward former coach Erik ten Hag. Sir Ratcliffe tried to replace Ten Hag before the opening of this season. However, Ashworth was opposed throughout the summer, and Ten Hag's replacement fell through.

If Ten Hag had made some performances, owner Ratcliffe would have praised Ashworth as well. However, Manchester United, led by head coach Ten Hach, had to experience its worst slump from the beginning of the season. Later, he had to replace coach Ten Hach and take the helm of the new head coach Huveng Amorim.

Because of this process, owner Ratcliffe's anger eventually exploded. For the past few weeks, he has expressed his dissatisfaction without making eye contact, and this time he has taken out a replacement card for the general manager. Ashworth clumsily defended former coach Ten Hag and even he lost his job.

Reporter Lee Won-man wman@sportschosun.com

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.