Five months, £2-3M & a quick exit: What went wrong for Dan Ashworth at Manchester United?

The Sporting director was fired in just five months of his job.

Manchester United authorities conveyed that it had been a “difficult decision” in an attempt to minimize the publicity surrounding Dan Ashworth’s abrupt exit as sporting director.

Five months after taking over as sporting director, Ashworth has essentially been shut out of Old Trafford’s decision-making process.

After the 53-year-old took a five-month gardening leave while United negotiated his departure from Newcastle, it ultimately cost them between £2 and £3 million.

Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe bemoaned Newcastle‘s negotiation strategy in holding Ashworth to his agreement in February, telling BBC Sport that he thought Ashworth would be “very good for Manchester United” and that being a “10 out of 10 sporting directors” was excellent.

Six months later, Ashworth talked in private about how excited he was to take on his new task. Furthermore, Ratcliffe implied as recently as October that Ashworth would require time to affect hiring.

What went wrong for Dan Ashworth at Manchester United?

Ashworth was well-known for being a personal friend of Sir Dave Brailsford, the former head of British Cycling, Ratcliffe’s trusted and extremely prominent director of INEOS’ sports section, and a strong United board member.

🚨🚨🌕| JUST IN: Dan Ashworth felt sidelined from big decisions at #mufc, almost from day one with Omar Berrada and Sir Dave Brailsford calling the shots. The tipping point was the Ruben Amorim appointment. Ashworth wanted a British coach, Gareth Southgate. [@alex_crook] pic.twitter.com/WGZjChpvz5

— centredevils. (@centredevils) December 8, 2024

Should Ashworth not have been protected by that?

Although Ashworth was “completely professional in every way, the fit hasn’t worked out in the end. We are making the tough choice on both sides and moving swiftly instead of stumbling along.”

The choice to retain former manager Erik ten Hag in the summer was believed to be that of Ashworth.

There had been indications of a possible issue in recent weeks. It was reported at the beginning of November that Ratcliffe was not impressed with his sporting director.

After keeping Ten Hag, Ashworth’s recruitment department played a major role in the £200 million spent on new players, none of whom can yet be considered a success.

According to reports, Ratcliffe believed that Ten Hag should have been let go in the summer and that a replacement should have been sought who could work with a changing team.

Given that Omar Berrada declined to hire Ashworth and is more acquainted with his old Manchester City colleague Jason Wilcox, who is currently United’s technical director, some Old Trafford officials are conjecturing that this could be an exercise of authority on his part.

But the haste at which he left will cast serious doubt on United’s management.

In the end, they hired a new manager who employed an entirely different tactical philosophy than Ten Hag and was brought in at a time when there was hardly any chance to improve it. Ruben Amorim is forced to rely on real matches and walkthroughs in order to convey his point.

Ashworth has suffered as a result of United’s continued mediocrity.

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