Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker both condemned Man United's Ineos group after Dan Ashworth's shock departure as the club's sporting director on Sunday morning, less than five months after his high-profile arrival.
The 53-year-old's summer arrival from Newcastle – which cost United between £2m and £3m in compensation – was previously hailed as a key move early in Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos-driven reign.
However, Ashworth was told by CEO Omar Berrada that he would no longer be part of the club's future at Old Trafford, immediately following United's 3–2 home defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Newly appointed first-team manager Ruben Amorim is looking to fulfill Ratcliffe's ambitions after the British billionaire invested £1.3 billion in the club almost a year ago.
Amorim saw his United side suffer consecutive defeats for the first time last week, while the Portuguese had only five games left after replacing Erik ten Hag.
Ashworth's departure from the 13-time Premier League champions has put the decision-making of the Ineos board – led by Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford – under scrutiny, with it yet to be confirmed whether a new sporting director will be appointed.
Lineker and Shearer have now heavily criticized the United board for their decision to terminate Ashworth's contract after such a short spell, with the pair labeling the decision as 'shambolic' and 'shameful'.
England and Premier League legend Shearer expressed his disbelief at United, telling The Rest Is Football podcast: 'Not only are they poor on the pitch, but what the hell is happening off the pitch?
'It's shameful to pick someone up and then put them on garden leave for six months.
'He spent longer gardening than he did at Manchester United! They paid £3m compensation for him and he left? It's a terrible sight.
“What on earth is going on at that football club,” he added scathingly.
Meanwhile, Lineker further ridiculed the decisions made since Ratcliffe's investment and highlighted the handling of Ten Hag's departure just weeks into the new season after the Dutchman survived the summer by winning the FA Cup.
The 64-year-old added: “It's funny isn't it because Ratcliffe came in and he brought in David Brailsford and Dan Ashworth and everything works out fine, but it's actually been shabbier in many ways.
'We saw the whole Ten Hag situation in the summer when they interviewed other managers and eventually went back to Ten Hag and then signed him and fired him a few months later, and there's a whole lot of compensation for that. They brought in Dan Ashworth and now he's out the door.
'They have increased ticket prices and many fans are not happy about that. They made big changes at the football club, they left the women's football team.
“It's been a mess in many ways. It just goes to show, you can be super successful in business, in life or whatever you do, but football is a bit different to business,” Lineker said.
Shearer continued the duo's scathing criticism, saying: It was shameful, it was really shameful for the start they made at that football club and everything that has happened and that will happen on Sunday.
'I'm not a Man United fan but the fans must be thinking: 'What the hell is going on?' it looks so bad.”
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