Manchester United have had an air of change to their operation this transfer window which was expected since it’s the first one since Ineos took charge.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Co. have worked quickly and decisively to put in a structure in place at Old Trafford to get the club back to its glory days.
The billionaire has so far been extremely communicative about his aims and ambitions with his boyhood club, a far cry from Glazers’ absence.
Interestingly, he hasn’t even refrained from taking shots at the state of affairs at the club before their arrival, a point he has hammered home this time in a ruthless verdict on the club.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s on Man United before Ineos
A huge-scale churn of the executive structure as soon as Ineos arrived was a dead giveaway that they were not happy with the operations at the club.
The overhaul didn’t hit everybody equally, and while it was taken well by some, there were others who felt the brunt of it as many jobs came under threat.
Now, in an interview with The Times, Sir Jim Ratcliffe gave a straightforward verdict on United before their arrival, painting a bad picture.
He said they had to “face facts” and “can’t put their head into the sand”, such was the reality at the club before they took charge.
Sir Jim fought back against suggestions that his overhaul was too ruthless, citing the need for a fresh start after a decade of underachievement.
He said: “The club had clearly lost its way. I mean, the results speak for themselves. In the last ten or eleven years, it should have been a contender for the Premier League and Champions League [trophies] every year and it hasn’t at all. It is a big responsibility to return the club to where it should be.
“It should be performing at least in the top eight in Europe. Now if we can’t do that then we won’t have been successful. We’ve got some very good people and some fresh faces.
“You can’t put your head in the sand, you have to face facts. It needed a fresh start, so that’s what we’ve done.”
A refreshing change of tone
United had gained an image of cultivating the culture of “jobs for boys” under the Glazers where people in top positions had questionable credentials to hold that profile.
It was more clear than anything else with Ed Woodward, who had become the symbol of all things wrong at United after Sir Alex Ferguson left.
There was a need for a team with footballing expertise at United and that is what Ineos made their top priority as well.
Today, United’s executive structure boasts some of the most highly-rated names in the football industry like Dan Ashworth, Omar Berrada, Jason Wilcox, among others.
The fingerprints of theirs are already seen over the squad and the general atmosphere at the club and the hope is that good momentum keeps up as they settle into their roles long-term.
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