Manchester United have endured a horrendous spell since Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought a minority stake in the club in February 2024. The Ineos co-ownership has been placed in the spotlight as managerial chaos and fan protests have become the norm at Old Trafford.
"Best in class, you're having a laugh," was the chant from the Manchester United supporters on Sunday. When Ratcliffe took charge of football operations in February 2024, he promised that Ineos were going to appoint the 'best in class' to bring United back to the top of English football.
Two-and-a-half years in, those three words should spook the Failsworth-born billionaire. Ratcliffe and Ineos have not prevented the decline at Old Trafford. In fact, in some areas, they have accelerated it. Incredibly, the United fan is now as unpopular as the Glazers among matchgoing fans, and many are ready for him to sell up.
Ineos' Unrealistic Goal
Ineos' current desire is to remain at United as they aim to deliver their long-term goal of winning the Premier League by 2028. However, everything that has unfolded since their partial takeover suggests that target is unrealistic. MEN Sport has taken a look back at how mediocrity has become the buzzword at United.
It took just less than five months for the first cracks to show for Ineos and Ratcliffe. Heading into the FA Cup final on May 25, it looked for all the world like Erik ten Hag would be sacked at the end of the season. Results had picked up ahead of the final, but still United had slumped to an eighth-placed finish.
United went on to play some of their best football under Ten Hag when they met Manchester City at Wembley Stadium for the second time in successive years. The Reds ran out 2-1 winners, shocking everyone and handing the Dutchman another trophy.
Despite the result and performance, many expected United's hierarchy to follow the Louis van Gaal template - thank Ten Hag for his service, but wish him well for the future. Instead, the United hierarchy dithered. June was lost as Ineos sought alternative options - including Thomas Tuchel. But once Tuchel rejected the opportunity, Ineos reluctantly chose to extend Ten Hag's contract.
Transfer Window and Sacking
Having wasted the first full month of the transfer window, United were left playing catch-up. With Ineos' penny-pinching philosophy kicking in, the Reds were forced to bring in money before they could recruit. Egregiously, the decision was made to sell Scott McTominay to Napoli, banking the 'pure profit' and using it to sign Manuel Ugarte.
While United needed a defensive midfielder, Ugarte soon proved he was not an upgrade on Casemiro. His signing summed up a poor summer for the Reds.
Speaking recently to The Athletic, Ten Hag confirmed it was not his decision to sell McTominay. "In Ibiza, we agreed. I said, 'No selling Scott McTominay'. We would go aligned in the transfer window," he said. "I make an argument, a reason: we don't have scoring abilities. Scott brings scoring abilities and great mentality. He has United in all his veins. So when they bring up the subject, 'No'. And in the end, they sold him. I got, of course, very embarrassed and disappointed."
After wasting a chunk of the summer transfer window scouting replacements and then settling on Ten Hag, Ineos chose to sack the Dutchman after a 2-1 defeat to West Ham. The sacking was an embarrassment for Ineos, but they moved quickly to identify his replacement.
Ruben Amorim was established as United's top target and was hired on November 11. However, all was not well.
Ashworth Exit and Fan Unrest
Ineos had spent months trying to hire Ashworth after he was placed on gardening leave by Newcastle, due to him expressing his interest in joining United. He was eventually hired in July 2024 but was sacked in December after Ratcliffe felt he did not have the ability to 'get things done'.
It would later emerge that Ashworth advocated for Eddie Howe to be Ten Hag's successor. Howe is now considered to be one of the favourites to become the next United boss, should the Reds decide to make a change.
Following Ashworth's exit, the concerns of the women's team began to grow. Ashworth was seen as one of the driving forces behind the women's team's growth. Ratcliffe would miss United's FA Women's Cup final against Chelsea the following May, the second successive year he had not shown up.
When he first arrived at Old Trafford, Ratcliffe made a point of his ambition to build a new stadium. Under the Glazer family's watch, Old Trafford had become dated with necessary improvements being overlooked. United fans' hope was for the current Old Trafford to be redeveloped, bringing it in line with their rivals.
Instead, Ineos floated the idea of moving to a new stadium close to, but not on, the same patch as the current ground. In June 2026, United completed the purchase of land to build their new 100,000-capacity stadium at a cost of £63.5m.
Fan Protests and Current Crisis
A little over a week after the new stadium plans were brought up, loyal supporters were up in arms as Ineos decided to uproot them from their seats in the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand to make room for hospitality seats. "With a flimsy email, with no consultation or discussion, telling them you're off and at the moment we can't actually tell you where you're going, is really bad," one supporter told the Manchester Evening News. "We've had contact with a number of people who are thinking if that's the way it is, I think the love affair's over, unfortunately."
In one of the most dismal Europa League finals on record, United missed out on European football the following season by losing 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. United would finish the campaign 15th, just four points above Spurs in 17th.
Despite leading Tottenham to glory, Ange Postecoglou was sacked by Spurs in the summer. After sacrificing the Premier League to win the Europa League, only to lose the final, Amorim looked to be in trouble. However, Ineos chose to stick with him.
United improved temporarily under Amorim, but their performances in the first half of the season were nothing to be overly impressed with. After drawing 1-1 at Leeds, United sat sixth in the Premier League, outside of the top five on goal difference. Amorim would be sacked the next day, not because of results, but because of his post-match press conference at Elland Road.
Amorim was replaced later that month with fan favourite Michael Carrick on an initial interim basis. The new head coach bounce and Carrick's sensible approach to tactics saw United end the season in fine form, finishing third. The return to the Champions League earned Carrick a two-year permanent contract.
Ahead of the Fulham game, a number of supporters showed their displeasure at the ownership. Speaking to PA News, Steve Crompton of The 1958 said: "It is a protest now about this partnership with Ineos and the Glazers that, just for me, isn't working. The last two games have been fantastic and there's been an upturn in what we're seeing on the pitch, but what we do has never been about what happens on the pitch. We want our football club back. Fans are getting priced out of coming. I had a look this morning for the Villa game, and they're selling tickets all over the stadium, for a minimum of £300 as hospitality. There's no tickets available to members to buy just as a standard ticket, so how do these fans to get to games anymore? It's becoming unaffordable."
Two days before the Manchester derby, United confirmed they had banned 685 accounts as part of their ticket tout probe. This was heralded as a success by the club, albeit they admitted that some innocent fans had been caught in the crossfire. United supporters, sick of Ineos' approach towards the fans, staged another protest before the game. Again this was led by The 1958, with Ratcliffe now becoming one of the main protagonists for supporters' anger, along with the Glazers.
Following a 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, Lisandro Martinez criticised the owners for what he saw as a lack of investment in Carrick's team. The comments sent shockwaves around the club and Martinez met with Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada to discuss what he had said. By the end of the week, Martinez had apologised for hitting out at the United hierarchy and Carrick confirmed the matter would be dealt with internally. However, it was notably the first time since Cristiano Ronaldo that the owners had been called out by a current player.
United lost heavily to Como and Bournemouth last week, putting Carrick on the brink of the sack. On Monday, Ineos and the Glazers were locked in talks to decide whether to sack the United boss or not. On Tuesday, they gave him a reprieve and confirmed Carrick would be in charge for the trip to Chelsea on Saturday. While United fans still love Carrick, trust in the board's decisions is at an all-time low. There are currently no signs of things improving, leaving United in a real mess.
