However, INEOS’ arrival has at least jolted the off-the-pitch department into action, especially with executive changes.

Omar Berrada has been confirmed as the CEO and Jason Wilcox has already started working as the Technical Director.

Dan Ashworth remains the last piece of the puzzle to come in as the Sporting Director from Newcastle but despite some extreme steps taken by him, that move seemed to be in limbo.

Until now, potentially, if recent reports are to be believed.

Football Insider reports that Newcastle are inching closer to finalising an agreement with Dougie Freedman to become their new Sporting Director.

The report states that the agreement is on pace to be made official at the end of the season, with the club playing their last game on May 22.

Freedman, currently at Crystal Palace, would have the same designation at Newcastle, and a move for him could make the Magpies more amenable to releasing Ashworth from his gardening leave.

Paying two people, including paying one to not work is hardly ideal business sense for a club flirting with Profit and Sustainability Rules line.

By releasing Ashworth, they would get compensation from United, some of which they can pocket and the remaining spent to extract Freedman.

His wages would also go off the books, again redirected towards Freedman’s arrival.

As a sidenote, it would also give clarity to United’s executive structure as the club had reportedly been targeting Freedman for the role of Head of Recruitment.

That was always going to be a long shot, as that role would have had him working under Ashworth, when he is effectively taking his job at Newcastle.

Ultimately, this move getting finalised could be the domino that makes everything happen in the lead-up to the summer window.

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Avram Glazer revealed his “love” for Manchester United to a fan during the women team’s successful FA Cup victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

United cruised to an emphatic 4-0 win to secure the club’s first major trophy since the formation of the women’s team in 2018. Goals from Ella Toone, Rachel Williams and a brace from Lucia Garcia put Spurs to the sword as the Red Devils ran riot at Wembley.

The American owner was in attendance in the capital while his co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, was present at Old Trafford for United men’s fixture against Arsenal.

Glazer was sat in the Royal Box at Wembley – a second trip for the 63-year-old businessman in the space of a month, having attended the semi-final against Coventry City in April. He was also present for both cup finals last season (FA Cup and Carabao Cup). His last trip to Old Trafford was in August 2022 for the opening day defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion.

During the match, the Manchester Evening News contends Glazer spoke to a fan, revealing he “wouldn’t have missed” the historic match. “It’s a big day and I’m happy to be here. I wouldn’t have missed it. I love United. I wouldn’t want to miss this,” the American stated.

United fans reading those words would be forgiven for any feelings of anger or disbelief they may be experiencing because this reporter certainly shares them.

The idea that any member of the Glazer family could claim, with a straight face, to “love” United is an insult to the state of disrepair they have allowed the club to fall into, both on and off the pitch.

Erik ten Hag’s side fell to a disappointing 0-1 defeat at the hands of Arsenal in front of Ratcliffe just hours after the women’s team had triumphed over Spurs. While the performance was better than the absolute capitulation against Crystal Palace earlier in the week, an improvement on abysmal is still poor.

United’s inability to sustain meaningful and lasting success on the pitch is a symptom of their abject ownership, as much as it is an incompetent manager or underperforming players. A ‘fish rots from the head’ has never applied more pertinently than at Old Trafford over the past decade with Avram Glazer suspect number one in this decay.

And, to add insult to injury, the stadium itself has even become a source of embarrassment for fans. Old Trafford is now Old Trafford after years of superficial investment by the Glazers, with the long-standing issue of a leaky roof rearing its ugly head as United fell to defeat to a better run, better organised rival with a better designed stadium.

An unusual amount of rainfall in a concentrated burst proved too much for the roof of the Sir Bobby Charlton Stadium and huge amounts of water began to cascade into the stadium, soaking fans and creating an image which was as embarrassing as it was dangerous.

It is not the first time this has happened, nor will it likely be the last, but The Peoples Person is sure the view from the Royal Box at Wembley was much more enjoyable than the one from the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand at Old Trafford at full-time of each game. Hence Avram Glazer’s completely out-of-touch words.

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In an interview with ITV News, the England manager was asked about him being one of the bookmakers’ favourites to take over from Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford. “I’m not a big gambling man, but bookies can make their odds. It’s not a conversation that’s been had with me,” he replied.

'I've got one thing to focus on… Everything else outside of that is a complete irrelevance to me.'

Gareth Southgate played down speculation linking him to Manchester United and told @stevescott_itv his aim is to win #Euro2024 with England. https://t.co/xSKFOzL6WR pic.twitter.com/yAxMuf44hZ

— ITV News (@itvnews) May 13, 2024

Southgate has been strongly linked with the United job since it emerged the club was actively pursuing Dan Ashworth to be the new sporting director at Old Trafford.

Ashworth, currently on gardening leave with Newcastle as the two clubs have been unable to agree a compensation package, has previously worked with Southgate in the England national set-up as a technical director. When Southgate was made manager of the Three Lions, following his work for the U21 side, Ashworth described him as the “outstanding candidate” for the role.

It appears to be a sentiment shared by INEOS – the new leaders of the football department at Old Trafford following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ratification as co-owner in February – who have made Ashworth a key part of their vision for transforming United.

The INEOS Sport team is headed by Sir Dave Brailsford, who has been conducting a comprehensive audit of the club in a bid to streamline and improve the sporting operation. Brailsford is a close friend and colleague of Ashworth who describes the INEOS Director as the “best in the world” at what he does.

Brailsford also holds a long-term connections with Southgate having worked as an advisor with the FA, with the England manager even being invited to his 60th birthday in March.

The links between all three man are, therefore, obvious; the type the rumour mill of football will always seek to play on if given the opportunity to do so. And United’s performances on the pitch this year have given ample ammunition for this to happen.

At the beginning of the year, Ten Hag’s position at Old Trafford was the strongest of any manager since Sir Alex Ferguson. He had guided the club back into the Champions League with a comfortable 3rd place finish in his debut season in English football. He had delivered the first trophy in six years with a Carabao Cup triumph. He’d even appeared to have successfully healed the wounds between the players and fans inflicted during the painful 2021/22 season.

In return, the club had fully backed the Dutchman, committing to another summer of huge spending at his behest. Andre Onana, Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund were all signed for large fees while United spent the entire summer chasing Sofyan Amrabat to reunite the Moroccan with Ten Hag in a costly loan deal. United officials were more than happy to be guided by their manager.

In short, he was the Manchester United manager for the present and the future. But, nine months on, it feels almost a foregone conclusion he is a relic of the past; a dead man walking who will not be in charge beyond this month.

8th in the Premier League with a goal difference of -4 and fourteen losses. The most goals conceded in a season since 1971. A calamitous early exit from both the Champions League and the Carabao Cup. A string of performances which border on a team in the bottom three rather than hoping to be in the top four.

It’s been a truly awful season.

The prospect, however remote, of a successful FA Cup campaign by beating Manchester City in the final on May 25 is this year’s only saving grace. An embarrassing defeat is the far more likely result, however.

INEOS have refused to provide a definitive answer on Ten Hag’s long-term future at the club, instead choosing to make a decision once the season has finished. This lack of clarity off the pitch has undoubtedly produced a negative effect on the pitch, with United’s form absolutely torpedoing over the final few months of an abysmal year.

This does not exculpate Ten Hag of his role in these woes, with the Dutchman’s bizarre system – a completely contradictory high-press, low bock structure – as much of a contributing factor as the unrelenting injury list which has besieged his squad, but he has been forced to manage an almost unmanageable situation at times.

Nonetheless, an historically poor season for United will always result in the rumour mill going into overdrive on the manager not being long for this world. When you couple that with EURO 2024 being potentially Southgate’s last tournament, and his long-standing ties to two executive heavyweights (or soon to be in the case of Ashworth) at Old Trafford, you’re left with an easy narrative for the rumour mill and bookies to push.

It’s not a narrative Southgate is remotely interested in, however.

The England manager is adamant his only focus at present is having “as successful a tournament with England as possible”. Everything else outside of that, including links to Old Trafford, are described as a “complete irrelevance” to him.

When the interviewer questioned if he would rule out a return to club football further down the line, Southgate reiterated where his attention lies. “If I start talking about that, then I’m already distracted from what I’m doing. So I think the country would expect that my focus is on England, and rightly so,” he replied.

Perhaps most interestingly was Southgate’s response that he has had no “conversation” with United officials over the prospect of joining the club. You would expect the number one favourite for the role to have had some level of dialogue with his prospective new employers and Southgate is renowned for his honest approach.

Whether the links between England’s manager and England’s biggest club are genuine or simply the product of the rumour mill putting two and two together remains to be seen, but there feels little doubt there will be a vacant managerial position at Old Trafford come the end of the season should Southgate be interested in the job.

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Manchester United fell to a 0-1 defeat at Old Trafford to Arsenal in their 14th league defeat of the season. The result sees United stuck in eighth position, three points behind seventh with two matches left to contest.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Erik ten Hag praised his side’s reaction to Monday night’s mauling at Crystal Palace.

The recurring theme of the question and answer session was the massive injuries his team are suffering and Ten Hag opened up on the damage this has caused his side.

After an horrendous showing on Monday night, Casemiro was at fault for Arsenal’s goal as he lazily failed to get up to the rest of the team’s offside trap, gifting Kai Havertz oceans of space to pick out a cross for Leandro Trossard to bundle in from close range.

Responding to a question on why he played Casemiro again at centre back, Ten Hag said, “I didn’t have options. [Kambwala] was not fit, he was just returning from injury and not fit to start.”

When asked if Scott McTominay could be an option as he has been for Scotland in the past he claimed, “I haven’t seen it but what I heard was not always a success. I think he’s better in that advanced position, higher up the pitch.”

Ten Hag was then asked if being so positive after losing to Arsenal highlighted the state the club was in, to which he retorted, “it shouldn’t be like this. You’re absolutely right. But I return to all the problems we have. When you analyse the performance, you have to see that we were competitive, but not in the way we want of course.”

“We have to win every game but as a club we are not in a position and definitely not with this team with all the injuries we have.”

Elaborating further on the damage injuries have had to his teams progress he stated, “I am now two years here and only one time have I had a full group of players. You can’t progress a team when you have so many injuries, especially in a particular key area.”

“It’s like swimming with your hands on your back. You have to keep your head above the water level and that is what we are trying to do.”

The Red Devils currently occupy eighth place in the table which would mean the Europa Conference League would even beyond them. When asked about the how harmful no European football next season could be he claimed it would be very damaging to the club but stressed that the team still has the opportunity to secure it in spite of the massive problems they face.

Ten Hag did mention two positive issues from the game, the first being the performance of Amad Diallo. When asked about giving the player his first start of the season he said, “I think Amad deserved it.”

The coach claimed that there was much competition in that area of the pitch with Alejandro Garnacho, Antony and Marcus Rashford all having minutes on the right, but he was impressed with what he saw from the Ivorian. “He played very well. He was brave, he was creative, he defended very well. We were pleased with his performance,” Ten Hag stated.

Finally, like Monday night, the Dutchman praised the support that the fans showed the team in challenging circumstances: “They understand the situation we are in. Today from the first to the final whistle they were behind us and they see what the problems are and that the team needs backing. So we are united and this is very good.”

If United are to have any chance of salvaging European football, at least from a league position, they need to defeat Newcastle United at Old Trafford on Wednesday night. There is still the prospect of securing Europa League qualification with an FA Cup win against Manchester City but the trajectories of the two teams suggest this will be an incredibly challenging objective.

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Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness claims that a transfer ban between Manchester United and Newcastle United as a ramification of Dan Ashworth leaving for Old Trafford is unworkable.

United’s new part owners, INEOS, decided earlier on that Newcastle’s Dan Ashworth was the right man to be the club’s new sporting director.

They promptly convinced the Englishman to join the revolution at Old Trafford.

As a consequence, Ashworth was put on gardening leave.

However, progress has slowed down immensely as Newcastle have demanded a King’s ransom to allow Ashworth to break his contract and complete a deal to arrive at United.

This has resulted in the Englishman taking his former employees to court in search of a resolution as Newcastle and Manchester United both refuse to cave in to their demands.

The stalemate has left both sides not particularly impressed with one another as Sir Jim Ratcliffe has labelled Newcastle’s approach as “silly”.

Newcastle have also been angered by United’s boldness and there have been reports that the club will not entertain offers from Old Trafford for any of their players.

However, speaking to Football Insider’s podcast, Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness believes this is impossible in reality.

“I’ve been in situations where agreements like that have been discussed,” he said.

“Clubs take a manager and you try and implement a transfer ban to make it so they can’t come back and raid the squad for a certain amount of time.”

“But in the end, it’s unworkable, it’s disastrous. Agents will work behind the scenes to agitate for moves.”

“Really, it’s not the way to go about it.”

Wyness then also argued that the fact the two clubs cannot agree a fee suggests that there is something wrong with the way the deal is being done.

“Ashworth should be in place at Man United. He’s got a lot of hard work ahead of him in this summer window.”

“If you can’t meet the compensation value, then something isn’t quite right in this whole decision-making process.”

United fans will be hoping that there is a resolution in the near future as this dispiriting season draws to a close.

As the former Everton chief states, the Red Devils have much work to do in regard to player recruitment and formation of a style of football equipped to compete at the highest level. Ashworth is a key cog in all of this, so the sooner he is in place, the better from a United perspective.

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