Gary Neville accuses Man Utd of ‘playing Football Manager’ before Sir Jim Ratcliffe arrived as he slams three signings
GARY NEVILLE has accused the Glazers of “playing Football Manager” with Manchester United.
The mood at Old Trafford has changed since the announcement that Sir Jim Ratcliffe has purchased 25 per cent of the club and will run football operations.
"Forget negligence, it's just madness!"
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 18, 2024
"They've literally played football manager with the club for 10 years!"
Gary Neville says it's staggering that Manchester United have been operating without a sporting CEO pic.twitter.com/hOVSaEXjYA
Man Utd have won seven of their nine games since the news and off the pitch, the British billionaire has already appointed Omar Berrada as CEO from Manchester City.
And Ratcliffe is also lining up a move for highly-rated Newcastle transfer chief Dan Ashworth.
Asked about his possible arrival and the change already seen under Ineos, Neville said: “It was getting to the point where we were getting mocked for mentioning the Glazers every time Man Utd lost a football match.
“People would say ‘Well the Glazers aren’t the ones playing football’.
“But for 10 years, every Manchester United manager operated without a CEO, without a sporting director, without a director of football.
“That is madness, forget negligence, that’s just madness.
“Obviously Sir Jim Ratcliffe is coming in and appointing a CEO that has actually been at a football club before and everyone is applauding him for it – that’s staggering.
“I can’t believe it hasn’t happened already, it’d never be allowed to happen at another club in the country.”
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Neville then slammed the Glazers, saying: “They have shown blind loyalty to people who have been really good to them over a long period of time.
“Ed Woodward was at the club for 10-12 years, they have believed everything he said.
“It was a little bit like they were playing Football Manager.
“We can literally go and look at the best players without having serious people operating the club.”
He highlighted the signings of Angel Di Maria, Radamel Falcao and Zlatan Ibrahimovic as evidence the Glazers signed big name players with a lack of long-term vision.
Di Maria arrived in 2014 for £60million, he stayed just one year and scored four goals before joining PSG for a reported £44m fee.
Falcao came in on loan the same year and struggled to make an impact, finding the back of the net just four times.
Ibrahimovic, however, was a success as he won the Europa League and Carabao Cup with Man Utd, scoring 29 goals across two seasons.
Ratcliffe is determined to take the club down a different direction in the transfer market – rather than be drawn in by the biggest name players.
And he is set to ruthlessly rebuild the squad, with Neville convinced the current players are fighting to prove their worth to the new owner.
The pundit said: “What Ratcliffe has come in and done is say to all of them ‘I’m looking at every single one of you lot – you’re all playing for your future.”
