What a disgrace’ – Man Utd owners ripped apart by Graeme Souness as he tells INEOS they should be ’embarrassed’ by hugely controversial decision

Earlier this week, reports emerged that United’s minority stakeholders, the INEOS group, have decided to remove legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson as the club’s global ambassador at the end of the 2024-25 season. British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe ultimately made the harsh decision to reduce the club’s expenses.

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  Ratcliffe has faced criticism over taking such a controversial call, with the news having irked several of the club’s former players. Even Liverpool legend Graeme Souness has expressed his anger over the axing of his compatriot, claiming that INEOS do not “understand how football works”.

  • WHAT GRAEME SOUNESS SAID

    In his column for the Daily Mail, the 71-year-old wrote: “I must say I am struggling to think of any action that the geniuses running Manchester United could have taken to turn more people against them than terminating Sir Alex Ferguson’s contract as a club ambassador. I’m trying to compute how they could have come up with an idea like that, at a time when so many fans’ goodwill is ebbing away. This decision will have turned a great many more against them.

    “The finger of blame will now not just be pointed at manager Erik ten Hag. INEOS are in charge of a club sitting 14th in the Premier League, having had their worst start to a league season in 35 years. So they’ve sat down in a room and said to each other: ‘Right. What can we do to lose the little goodwill that’s remaining to us? I tell you what — let’s sack the greatest ambassador we have and restrict his access to certain parts of Old Trafford.’”

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    ‘THE GREATEST EMPLOYEE THE CLUB EVER HAD’

    Souness added: “This is the man who led United through the greatest period they have ever known. His 26 years at Old Trafford brought success surpassing any other period in the club’s history. He is, without a shadow of a doubt, the greatest employee that club has ever had. United insist he is still welcome at Old Trafford. But surely you want someone like him around the place as much as possible? Surely you want the world to know that you are treating the pillar of your club with the respect that his endeavours have warranted? Apparently not. I know you get nothing for looking back in football. Nothing lasts forever. But this is not any old manager we are talking about. You only have to go to Old Trafford on a match day and see the banners to be reminded of the trophies he has won, what he has achieved and the standing he is held in. Talk about the ultimate standard-bearer.

    “When he was manager of the club, he imbued Old Trafford with a siege mentality. His message was: ‘It’s us against the world. Everyone else is the enemy.’ The new decision makers don’t seem to have the remotest understanding of that, or of the value of loyalty at a football institution like United. Simply by being around the place, Fergie is a reminder of the passion and quality that United should always be striving for. A symbol of the club’s great days, at a time when their dressing room looks so fragmented, with no one really believing they can be successful. Yet he seems to be viewed as just another employee, just another casualty of the Ineos cost-cutting measures.

    “What a disgrace. Where on earth is the respect? I have to tell these owners that they have embarrassed themselves. The sum of money he was getting may have been considerable, but is his role really one that the bean counters needed to be looking at for their cost savings?”

    ‘DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW FOOTBALL WORKS’

    Souness continued: “United are a cash cow that generates huge sums of money, even when they are in the doldrums, as they are right now. Their latest reported annual revenues were £661.8 million. The annual £2m they are cutting by dispensing with Fergie is a drop in the ocean. For me, this decision is proof that the people now running the club simply don’t understand how football works, how Manchester United work and how supporters view that institution.

    “On the evidence of what we’ve seen so far, the players they signed this summer – Joshua Zirkzee, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui – are not going to get United challenging for the big trophies. We’ve not seen the fifth, Leny Yoro, because he was injured pre-season. On Saturday afternoon, the club take on Brentford, one of the minnows who are three places above them. Even this game is a very dangerous one for the current United team. Just a final thought for the bean counters. Manchester United are currently valued at £4.96billion. How much of that is down to what Fergie did for the club over 27 years?”

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    WHAT NEXT FOR MANCHESTER UNITED?

    Erik ten Hag’s side, who are winless in their last five outings, will aim to get back to winning ways on Saturday as they take on Brentford in a Premier League clash at Old Trafford. Lose, and their Dutch coach could well be sacked by the club’s hierarchy.