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Gary Neville has criticized Manchester United’s vague statement regarding Dan Ashworth’s departure and said sometimes it’s better to “slap us in the face with the truth”.
Ashworth left Old Trafford by mutual consent yesterday just five months after taking up the role of sporting director as part of an off-field revamp under Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group.
The statement accompanying his departure did not mention the reasons why Ratcliffe, although reports suggested he was angry that Ashworth had publicly distanced himself from the decision to extend the contract of former boss Erik ten Hague.
Neville does not see much value in not revealing the truth to the fans and believes United should admit the truth.
Dan Ashworth is to leave his role as Manchester United’s sporting director by mutual consent.#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 8, 2024
a shocked Neville
Speaking on NBC Sports, the former United and England full-back said: “I’m really shocked that this has happened. It’s not a great look at all and it’s something that will need to be explained. I think the statement made by the club is really bad.
“Manchester United has not had a voice for 10 years – it has lost its authority, its courage. I think they’ve come back a bit in the last 12 months, but what’s really clear is that there’s a fracture here, something’s happened.
“You can’t bring someone in at Dan Ashworth’s level and then lose him after five months and think something hasn’t gone wrong. Fans will now be asking the question: what went wrong? They will guess, it will leave huge gaps.
“I think you better slap us in the face with the truth sometimes when it’s so obvious that something has gone wrong between the personalities of Dan Ashworth, Omar Berrada, Dave Brailsford, whoever it is in the last few months. which clearly did not agree with each other or does not work.
“Just tell us because it’s obvious something happened. I think that statement is weak.”
Ruben shares his assessment of a frustrating night at Old Trafford 💬#MUFC || #MUNNFO
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 7, 2024
Ashworth was in demand for a role at United
United had to wait for Ashworth to take the role after months of haggling with his former club Newcastle over compensation, which makes the situation even more difficult to understand, according to Neville.
“You would expect big changes, but not changes for this position,” he added. “Dan Ashworth was haunted for many, many months. They chased him for 10 months, he was on garden leave for four or five months, he was paid millions of pounds.
“I worked with Dan Ashworth at the FA for two years and he was very successful wherever he was – Brighton, West Brom, the FA, most recently at Newcastle.”
Ashworth was reportedly told of the decision at a meeting shortly after United’s 3-2 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest on Saturday night.
United are not expected to sign a direct replacement, at least in the short term, despite the January transfer window opening in three weeks. Technical Director Jason Wilcox and Interim Recruitment Director Christopher Vivell are believed to take on additional responsibility in the interim period.
