Ratcliffe chose to appoint rookies at Man United, and it has them facing relegation fight

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INEOS chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe had all the answers when he assumed control of football operations at Manchester United in February 2024 after buying a 27.7% minority stake from the club's hugely unpopular owners, the Glazer family.

So before we can assess the state of the club today, as United sit in the Premier League relegation zone and with manager Michael Carrick set to remain in post despite just one league win all season, it is important to remember what Ratcliffe promised for the future -- and who he blamed for the past -- when he walked into Old Trafford less than three years ago.

Ratcliffe spoke about the "simple criteria" of "challenging for Premier League and Champions League titles" and honoring a "duty to those [supporters] who make the pilgrimage to Old Trafford."

United, Ratcliffe said, had to be "successful in winning," but he made it clear that it would take time and expertise to correct "12 years of stupid things" under the Glazers.

"The owners [Glazers] just managed the club and left the football side alone and they've made a lot of very poor decisions over 12 years, stupid things," Ratcliffe told The Times. "They made a complete cock-up of it, shocking really.

"They couldn't see where they were headed. The first management group [led by Ed Woodward] thought they understood and wanted to get involved in buying footballers, but they didn't have the knowledge to buy footballers so they went in the marketplace, spraying money around and it was just random. I wouldn't have tolerated Ed Woodward or [his successor] Richard Arnold."

As Ratcliffe approaches the third anniversary of his arrival at United, heralded by some fans at the time at as a savior, it could be argued that he identified the Glazer mistakes and then made even bigger ones of his own.

The 74-year-old was right to pinpoint the decade of bad decisions and woeful player recruitment following Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement as manager in 2013. But rather than correct them, his own football naivety and inexperience has left United in their worst position for 40 years, with the unthinkable prospect of relegation from the Premier League staring the club in the face.

"I don't think Jim listens to many people," a former Premier League executive told ESPN. "In my experience, it takes about five years for owners to learn their lessons and take some responsibility. That's when humility starts to land. Up until year three or four, they are still putting the blame on what they inherited."

With United having become a laughing stock under his control, it is Ratcliffe's appointments that have left the club in such a perilous state. He appears to lack the sporting knowledge or temperament to run a club of United's stature and this is borne out by the people now tasked with the challenge of making the team great again.

Omar Berrada is working as a football club CEO for the first time at United, after leaving his post as chief operating officer -- fourth or fifth in command -- at Manchester City; Jason Wilcox, who worked with Berrada at City, became director of football at Old Trafford after less than a year in the same role at Southampton.

And Ratcliffe, whose ownership of French club Nice and Swiss team Lausanne has been a tale of underwhelming performance and supporter discontent, has overseen the appointments of two first-team managers at United -- Ruben Amorim and Carrick -- with no previous experience of Premier League management.

When previous director of football Dan Ashworth, who was steeped in experience following previous roles at Brighton & Hove Albion and Newcastle United, pushed back against the hiring of Amorim from Sporting CP in November 2024 by instead vouching for Eddie Howe or Marco Silva, he was fired by Ratcliffe.

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So having criticized the Glazers -- justifiably -- for handing Woodward and Arnold control of the club, Ratcliffe has made a similar mistake by allowing rookies to fill the most senior positions at Old Trafford at a time when it is obvious that United need people with proven track records as CEO, director of football and manager.

Perhaps Berrada, Wilcox and Carrick are less likely to speak truth to power as Ashworth did to his cost. Amorim also discovered that being outspoken at United is the quickest way to being fired, with the former manager dismissed within 24 hours of criticizing Wilcox last season.

But at a time when United must unpick the damage of 10 years of dismal recruitment, Ratcliffe has left that task in the hands of people who have no proven credentials of being able to do the job. He has never owned a giant of a club like United before, and it's clear that Berrada, Wilcox and Carrick are all performing like rabbits in the headlights.

The fact that the Glazers have left them with a squad of players with little or no pedigree of winning the biggest trophies only compounds United's problems. But if United are to escape the relegation zone and climb to some kind of mid-table respectability this season, they will have to do so with an owner who is failing to live up to his promises and senior figures who are all out of their depth.

If United fans are searching for hope, it is difficult to know where they can find it right now.