Many Manchester United fans breathed a sigh of relief when it was confirmed that boyhood fan Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS would buy a 25% stake in the club and control footballing operations on Christmas Eve 2023.
However, just over 12 months on the situation has continued to deteriorate, on and off the pitch.
Manchester United endured their worst start to a Premier League season ever, currently sitting 13th after 20 games, and there have been several rounds of redundancies to non-playing staff which has caused backlash amongst the fans.
Paul Scholes: I can think of nothing positive INEOS have done for Manchester United
Paul Scholes, a Man United legend, has become the latest player to speak out about the club's situation, taking particular aim at the INEOS group.
In an appearance on The Overlap Fan Debate he said: “[INEOS Group] have been in charge [of Manchester United] for nearly a year now and everything is still negative.”
“I can’t think of something positive that they’ve done for the football club.
“Things are getting worse on the football pitch so couldn’t they have just said that they’d do cheaper tickets – couldn’t they just give us something positive. How can you ask Manchester United fans to pay more money with what’s on the football pitch.”
An FA Cup victory over Man City at the end of last season papered over many cracks at the club and kept Erik ten Hag in his position over the summer transfer window, only for him to be dismissed in October after an abysmal start to the season.
Ruben Amorim’s appointment has so far failed to yield the results the Man United hierarchy wished it would, with just two wins in his first nine Premier League games.
Scholes continued his rant at Man United’s minority owners by taking aim at their recent ticket price increase.
“£66 for a ticket is ridiculous,” he said. “If you think of Manchester, there are so many deprived areas and Sir Jim Ratcliffe himself is from Failsworth – which is a deprived area. If you take one kid with you, that’s £120, if you take a family, you’re looking at £300-400 – it’s not right.”
“Where do these owners get the front to put ticket prices up? For the value – we’re [Manchester United] probably having our worst ever Premier League season and they’ve got the cheek to put the prices up.”
“There is nothing positive happening with that football club [Manchester United]. The team look bang average. They’re not doing anything for fans.
“If we’ve got Sir Jim Ratcliffe, compared to all these American owners, who’s been a United fan since growing up in an area in Manchester – he’s still hiking prices up. It just shows that they don’t care.”
Amorim is looking to rectify the start to the season by bolstering squad with Brentford's Bryan Mbuemo a reported target.
FourFourTwo understands, however, that this isn't a move that will be feasible to complete this month.
