Sir Jim Ratcliffe is obviously not new to controversy as he’s now continuing to court it at Manchester United by taking away Sir Alex Ferguson’s lucrative ambassadorial role, but it appears the 82-year-old had already been tipped off about what was heading his way.
Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson should have been well aware of newe minority owner Ratcliffe’s shrewd corporate tightfist reputation before losing his lucrative tenure with the club before he was terminated by the billionaire from his £2.16million-a-year role as a global ambassador for the club in a face-to-face meeting. The 82-year-old, who had brought the club to their glorious heights of success with 13 Premier Leaguewon titles over 26 years as manager of United, has been let go in an effort to save money.
Ferguson has raked in around £25m since retiring as manager in May 2013 and was gracious in accepting the news. He is expectged to continue watching United matches from the posh seats and will remain on the board as a non-executive director.
It wouoldn’t be out of place to believe that the United legend may well have been expecting such a move, given the fact that Ratcliffe has made himself unpopular among staff by making 250 people redundant, cancelling the Christmas part and reducing ticket allocations and benefits for the FA Cup.
Ratcliffe has not tried to hide his feelings on United, who have been underperforming ever since Ferguson retired 11 years ago. He explained his vision for the club in an interview with Belgian newspaper De Tijd in February.
“We have to ensure that the right people end up in the right positions,” he said. “Every person in management must be world-class. And then it is important to create a positive, supportive, friendly and high-quality environment. That culture was missing before. Only in such an environment can you get the best out of sportsmen. If successful, the results will follow automatically. That’s the plan and I believe in it.”