SIR JIM RATCLIFFE has been heavily criticized for his “laughable” start at Manchester United.
The British billionaire completed a 25 percent takeover of Old Trafford in December, taking control of its football operations.
But things have gone from bad to worse, with the departure of sporting director Dan Ashworth recently causing controversy in the red half of Manchester.
Less than two months after Erik ten Hag was sacked, while Premier League legend Alan Shearer was full of criticism.
He said on The Rest is Football podcast: “It doesn't look good for them at all, does it?
“It's quite shameful what happened with Dan Ashworth's departure and the decisions they've made since then in terms of the money they've spent.
“The decisions they made where Ten Hag extended his contract, fired him, paid him off, gave him the players he had in the summer and then lost him.
“Putting Ashworth on garden leave, taking him out of Newcastle, paying compensation for him and getting rid of him after five months.
“It's really laughable, it looks so awful. So yeah, I don't know, it's not a good look.”
Ratcliffe has sanctioned five major signings since his arrival last year.
Leny Yoro cost £52 million, Manuel Ugarte was signed for £42 million, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui both joined from Bayern Munich for £60 million and Joshua Zirkzee was £36.5 million.
And Gary Lineker believes the wasteful spending is one of United's biggest sins under Ratcliffe, who hired Ruben Amorim as Ten Hag's successor.
He said: “Ultimately the worst thing of all is the recruitment and the amount of money they have paid out on players who have not realized what they clearly thought was good potential.
“So it just shows you what kind of football it is, whoever comes in, you've got to get that side of it right.
“Whatever your budget, it's not easy because you're never sure how a player will perform at a football club until he gets there.”
But Micah Richards argued: “The only thing I would say about this is that the players they bought at the time played very well in defence.
“What I think they got wrong is that they didn't buy players for a system, they just bought individuals who didn't perform, which made them look ridiculous.
“If you look at someone like Antony, when he was at Ajax he was on fire, but where did he play?
“And the new manager now likes to play three at the back, four in midfield and three up front. What is his strategy for the future?
“That's what we need to see because you're right Gary, there have been a lot of big decisions that have just been terrible.”
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