Paul Scholes has expressed his dissatisfaction with Ineos’ first year of ownership of Manchester United and claimed he “can’t think of anything positive they have done for the football club”.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chairman of Ineos, struck a deal with the Glazers last December which saw him buy 27.7% of United with the promise of revitalizing the club on and off the pitch.
Since then, however, a series of unpopular decisions have been made, including an efficiency drive which saw a quarter of the club’s workforce – many of whom were in low-paid jobs – made redundant while children’s ticket prices soared soaring.
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Things haven’t improved on the player side either, with the decision to hand former boss Erik ten Hag a new contract in the summer backfiring. The Dutchman was then sacked in October and his replacement Ruben Amorim got off to a slow start at Old Trafford. United are currently 13th in the Premier League.
“Things are getting worse on the ground”
“[Ineos Group] to have been in charge [of Manchester United] for almost a year now and everything is still negative. I can’t think of anything positive they’ve done for the football club,” former United and England midfielder Scholes told the Overlap Fan Debate.
“Things are getting worse on the football field, so couldn’t they have just said they would make tickets cheaper – couldn’t they just give us something positive? How can you ask Manchester United fans to pay more money with what is on the football pitch?
“£66 for a ticket is ridiculous. If you think about Manchester, there are so many deprived areas and Sir Jim Ratcliffe himself is from Failsworth, which is a deprived area. If you’re taking a child with you that’s £120, if you’re taking a family you’re looking at £300-400 – that’s not right.
“Where can these owners find a front to increase ticket prices? For the price, we are probably having our worst Premier League season and they have had the nerve to raise the prices.
Nothing positive – Scholes
Scholes added: “There is nothing positive happening with this football club. The team looks average. They don’t do anything for the fans.
“If we have Sir Jim Ratcliffe, compared to all these American owners, who is a United fan since he grew up in a Manchester area, he continues to raise prices. It just shows that they don’t care about it. mock.
Ratcliffe has spoken about his willingness to make tough decisions and even said it could increase his popularity with some supporters.
He told Bloomberg this summer: “At Manchester United I have to do things that are unpopular.
“I mean, I think ultimately doing hard things, and you know, a certain level of unpopularity, in a fun way, might make you more popular.
“Because someone sees that you stand up and make tough decisions rather than just going with the wind a little bit.”
