Sir Jim Ratcliffe's seven controversial Man Utd decisions amid 'total contempt' blast

Sir Jim Ratcliffe was hailed as a saviour by many Manchester United fans after taking over from the Glazer family a year ago, but his reputation has taken a beating since then.

Ratcliffe bought a 27.7 per cent stake in United at a cost of £1.3billlion on December 24 last year and assumed full control of football operations at the club in February. The petrochemicals billionaire has overseen a succession of contentious moves in an attempt to turn things around over the subsequent months.

From making 250 staff redundant, sacking Erik ten Hag, stripping Sir Alex Ferguson of his ambassadorial role to hiking ticket prices and scrapping concessions for children and pensioners, Ratcliffe has not shied away from making radical changes since taking over.

Ratcliffe defended the calls he has made, saying “difficult and unpopular decisions” needed to be made in order to make United more efficient and sustainable, with the club making losses.

Here, Mirror Football looks at the most controversial moves taken by Ratcliffe and his INEOS team in their ruthless programme of overhaul at United.

HALTING FUNDING TO EX-PLAYERS FUND

Ratcliffe has been compared to Scrooge after another contentious cost-cutting decision became public around Christmas. United have stopped paying £40,000 to a trust set up to support former players. The Association of Former Manchester United Players were told the decision had been taken to stop paying them in another PR disaster. In reaction, a United supporters club said it showed “nothing but total contempt for the fans and the very fabric of what our club was built on."

MAKING 250 STAFF REDUNDANT

One of the most controversial moves under Ratcliffe was the decision to axe 250 jobs – almost a quarter of United's total staff - as part of a cost-cutting exercise, designed to save £35million to £45m. Some long-serving staff, who had been at the club for more than two decades, were made redundant, with the brutal move leaving morale at the club at an all-time low, according to those affected. United defended the decision, claiming “significant transformation” was needed to ensure the “long-term health and success” of the club, but the move served only to demoralise an already disillusioned workforce, with many employees now stretched in terms of their workload, essentially carrying out the job of two people and working far longer hours, for no extra pay.

Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images) Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)

SCRAPPING FREE TRAVEL FOR STAFF TO CUP FINALS

United employees were given a first taste of the brutal cutbacks Ratcliffe and his new regime were planning with free travel to the FA Cup final scrapped as an early cost-cutting measure. United staff had previously enjoyed the perk of free tickets for cup finals, along with free travel to Wembley, hotel accommodation and pre-match food. But that benefit was scrapped by Ratcliffe for last season's FA Cup final against local rivals Manchester City, in which United produced a shock 2-1 win. Although staff were still given a free match ticket, they had to pay for their own travel to and from Wembley, with all other benefits also taken away, in another move that damaged morale among United's disaffected employees. Higher up the chain of command at the club, senior employees saw the withdrawal of their corporate credit cards and chauffeur-driven cars, while match-day staff at Old Trafford had complimentary lunches stopped.

STRIPPING SIR ALEX FERGUSON OF HIS AMBASSADORIAL ROLE

If making 250 people redundant and scrapping cup final perks wasn't enough, Ratcliffe and his INEOS cronies showed no-one is safe from his swingeing cuts at United when they decided to strip legendary former boss Sir Alex Ferguson of his £2million-a-year ambassadorial role, a position he had enjoyed for more than a decade since stepping down as manager in 2013, having the team to its last Premier League title. Ferguson was said to have accepted the decision amicably and has attended games at Old Trafford since being forced to give up his ambassadorial title and its hefty financial bonus, but the bold move underlined the determination of Ratcliffe and his team to make United sustainable as a club, with no casualty too high-profile.

SACKING ERIK TEN HAG AND HIS STAFF

The handling of Erik ten Hag showed Ratcliffe and the football executive team he has assembled at United do not have a clear vision of what must be done to make the team successful again. After Ten Hag led United to a shock FA Cup triumph, United decided to keep him, despite having interviewed candidates to succeed him. United got rid of his three-man coaching staff and brought in Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rene Hake and Jelle ten Rouwelaar. But when Ten Hag was sacked on October 28, only Van Nistelrooy remained, as interim boss, until he, too, was sent packing with the arrival of Ruben Amorim, who brought his own backroom team with him from Sporting Lisbon. The cost of the change of manager and coaching staff was £21.4million - £10.4m for Ten Hag and his three coaches and £11m to land Amorim from Sporting. Against the backdrop of 250 job cuts, those who had been made redundant – under the banner of cost-cutting - were entitled to be aggrieved at such an egregious waste of money.

Image: PA) PA)

HIKING TICKET PRICES AND ABOLISHING CONCESSIONS

Undeterred by sacking loyal employees and alienating those disillusioned staff left behind, Ratcliffe and his coterie then trained their guns on United supporters themselves, by unashamedly hiking the minimum ticket price for members from £25 to £66 and abolishing concessions for children and pensioners. The move led to protests outside Old Trafford before recent games, with Ratcliffe defending the move by saying: “"I don't think it makes sense for a Manchester United ticket to cost less than a ticket to see Fulham. I don't want to end up in a position where the genuine local fans can't afford to come but I do want to optimise the ticketing. We need to find a balance - and you can't be popular all the time either.”

Image: Getty Images) Getty Images)

SACKING SPORTING DIRECTOR DAN ASHWORTH

The most recent of Ratcliffe's controversial moves, the sacking of sporting director Dan Ashworth, is arguably the most concerning from a strategic point of view, because it points to a lack of judgment from those at the very top of the club. Having spent nearly five months prising Ashworth from Newcastle at a cost of £3m in compensation, the 53-year-old only lasted five months in the role, sacked after Saturday's 3-2 home defeat by Nottingham Forest, after losing a power battle with CEO Omar Berrada. The decision to jettison Ashworth after such a short spell in the job suggests a lack of due diligence and expertise on the part of Ratcliffe and his right-hand man, Sir Dave Brailsford, who were responsible for the appointment and does not bode well for such major decisions going forward.

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