Despite British billionaire and boyhood United fan Ratcliffe, 72, completing his 25 per cent purchase of the club in February \u2013 with the Glazer family subsequently handing him control of football operations \u2013 it has been a difficult first year in charge for Ratcliffe and his Ineos group with United undergoing a trying time on and off the pitch.<\/p>\n
The Red Devils handed Erik ten Hag a new contract back in the summer despite significant speculation over his future, besides giving him more than \u00a3200million to spend in the transfer market – before finally sacking him in October, shelling out \u00a315m in compensation.<\/p>\n
Ratcliffe then prised Dan Ashworth away from Newcastle, installing him as the new United sporting director before he made the decision to dispense with his services last week after only five months in the role.<\/p>\n
72-year-old Ratcliffe has similarly made a string of unpopular decisions, such as a mid-season move to raise matchday ticket prices to \u00a366 per game – with no concessions for children or pensioners – while more than 250 club staff have been made redundant.<\/p>\n
Despite all the change, the Red Devils are languishing in 13th in the Premier League and they narrowly beat Czech minnows Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Ahead of Sunday’s Manchester derby against arch-rivals City, Betfair\u00a0ambassador Shearer insisted that Ratcliffe has yet to positively impact the club.<\/p>\n
‘That\u2019s [chaotic] the right word,’ he exclusively told Mail Sport, speaking on behalf of Betfair.<\/p>\n
‘It looks as if its gone from a really bad situation to everyone thinking “Ratcliffe is in there now” [everything will be fine].<\/p>\n
‘But ever since he walked in the door, whether it be putting ticket prices up, giving Erik ten Hag a new deal or giving him millions to spend on players and then sacking him and giving him compensation.<\/p>\n
‘Or whether it be paying \u00a33m for Dan Ashworth after waiting for him on gardening leave [and then sacking him], it\u00a0seems as if it has gone from one bad stage to another.’<\/p>\n
Ruben Amorim was subsequently appointed as Ten Hag’s replacement in November after United paid Sporting Lisbon \u00a310.6m to hire the highly-rated coach and his staff, with the Portuguese still adapting to life at Old Trafford after having lost two of his four Premier League games in charge.<\/p>\n
And Shearer insisted that Amorim’s first month at the club would have been extremely eye-opening for the 39-year-old.<\/p>\n
‘The most important thing is results on the pitch and that isn\u2019t getting any better anytime soon,’ he added.<\/p>\n
‘Because Ruben Amorim must have walked in and thought “there’s been \u00a3600m spent on this squad and this is what I\u2019ve got, this is the best he [Ratcliffe] can offer me”.<\/p>\n
‘So yeah, it\u2019ll take time for him to get it right no doubt and I\u2019m sure his eyes have been opened wide since he walked in there.’<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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