AXED Dan Ashworth drew up a four-man shortlist to replace Erik ten Hag – and Ruben Amorim was reportedly NOT included.
The sporting director left Manchester United after just five months in the role, in a farcical season for the Red Devils.
Ashworth, 53, was given the boot less than an hour after United's 3-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford on Saturday.
And it has since been revealed by sources close to The Athletic that Ashworth was not keen on Amorim's appointment.
Instead, the former Newcastle and West Brom director wanted an English manager with more experience in domestic football.
He had a list and those he suggested had one thing that Amorin did not: Premier League experience.
The first two names were Eddie Howe, despite the picture not always being rosy at Newcastle, and Marco Silva from Fulham.
The next two, Brentford manager Thomas Frank and ex-Chelsea boss Graham Potter, who could potentially have come in on an interim basis until the end of the season.
According to talkSPORT, Potter is now reportedly willing to take over temporarily at West Ham if Julen Lopetegui is sacked this week.
But co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe wanted to hear more adventurous ideas from the man they gave Newcastle £2.5m for, and away from the people Ashworth already knew.
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But the sports expert is said to have given no clear, convincing arguments about who to bring in.
It is perhaps far from a coincidence that there was nothing from Ashworth on Amorim's official announcement.
Ashworth had been quoted about Ten Hag's contract extension and each signing came in during the summer.
According to The Athletic, Ashworth is said to have had little input in selecting Amorim as United boss, with CEO Omar Berrada having a major influence on the Portuguese getting the job.
It was Berrada who flew to Lisbon when Ten Hag was fired to negotiate face-to-face with Sporting chairman Frederico Varandas.
But it should be noted that Berrada went because he, not Ashworth, knew the people at Sporting.
SunSport also exclusively revealed three weeks ago that United's new hierarchy were involved in a blame game over their summer activities, and that they decided to extend Ten Hag's contract only for the Dutchman to be sacked 14 games later.
Berrada and Ashworth tried to wash their hands of it, claiming they had arrived late after serving their garden leave.
But their denied involvement irked Ratcliffe, who said the decision-making was all up to them.
The co-owner of the Red Devils, who bought a 27.7 percent stake, also announced “it's not my decision” before Ten Hag got the boot.
Ashworth's departure was caused by those at the top of the club.
The feeling among the staff is a joint decision between Ratcliffe, Berrada, Sir Dave Brailsford and co-owner Joel Glazer.
The tension also became apparent when Ashworth proposed hiring a data company to assess the candidates to replace Ten Hag.
Ratcliffe is said to have reacted poorly by claiming that it was Ashworth's job to know such matters rather than outsource them.
Eyebrows were also raised when Ashworth went on holiday on Amorim's second day in Carrington.
There were extenuating circumstances, with Ashworth marking an important family event and having postponed previous attempts for work reasons.
However, his absence, around the same time, at the November executive committee meeting was seen by some as a further indication that all was not well.
Ashworth had attended the ExCo summit at Ineos' London headquarters in October, as well as the previous one in Barcelona.
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