Why Man United want Dan Ashworth

Manchester United want Dan Ashworth to be their new sporting director.
Ashworth has been placed on gardening leave after informing Newcastle of his desire to leave the club.

Newcastle are now chasing a £20 million fee to release Ashworth from his contract. So, how will this battle between the clubs play out as both teams chase Champions League football next season. And why is the ex-Brighton Technical Director so sought after?

Ayo Akinwolere is joined by The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Manchester United writer Laurie Whitwell and Newcastle correspondent Chris Waugh to discuss.

00:10 Intro
01:42 Why does Man Utd want Dan Ashworth?
03:48 Who is leading this pursuit?
08:22 How damaging is this for the Newcastle project?
11:52 How will Newcastle move on?
17:26 How easy will the deal be?
21:41 What do Newcastle do next?
28:42 Dan Ashworth’s competitors
33:23 What will happen to existing staff at Man Utd?
40:00 Summer transfer window
43:20 Final comments
46:02 Outro

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#manutd #newcastle #premierleague

All right let’s get into this on a Monday morning with us today we have the Athletics David orstein Manchester United writer Lori Whitwell a Newcastle correspondent and also fresh from recording an episode of pod on the time we’ve got Chris WF with us as well right

David let’s start with you on this one um we’re usually used to talking about player transfers and uh players moving from Team to team now it seems the men in suits are just as exciting as United Pursuit Dan Ashworth um at the time of recording can you just give us a bit of

The latest as to what’s going on with that story yeah although Dan Ashworth has described himself as somebody who can wear a suit and a tracksuit so um these are men and Professionals of many talents it would seem um first thing to say is that and

You touched upon it there it does seem like the movement of staff and Executives is becoming as if not more notable than the movement of players in the January transfer window and as one exec described it to me there is a war going on for talent both on and off the

Pitch and so I think this is a story that’s only going to get bigger because it’s not just this situation but there are a number of others around the Premier League as well and it’s really quite fascinating to see how these clubs are trying to build out their back from

Operation to make themsel as robust as possible to be as um competitive as they can in this specific situation um we’ve known for a long time that inos in particular on behalf of Manchester United as they tried to secure investment into the club had targeted Dan Ashworth as being their ideal

Sporting director he was their first choice candidate and since last week when the Premier League and Fa gave their approval to S Jim Radcliffe’s 25% investment into United the Ashworth situation has all kicked off there had been no approach to either Newcastle United or to Dan Ashworth but we soon revealed on the

Athletic that Ashworth had received an approach and had informed Newcastle of that Approach at that point there was still no uh clubt Club conversation um and it came to Eddie how’s press conference on Friday which I think was fairly extraordinary I don’t remember seeing something like that before where

The manager agreed with a question from a journalist that Dan Ashworth still being the sporting director of Newcastle at a time where he was very likely to be moving to Manchester United um basically compromis sensitive information and it needed to be resolved one way or the other as quickly as possible um fast

Forward to the weekend he attended newcastle’s match against Bournemouth also some scouting meetings but on Sunday um he informed Newcastle United of his wish to leave the club he asked to go um and this broke in the media on Sunday evening and then we revealed that Dan Ashworth has actually been placed on

Gardening leave by Newcastle United now and therefore you would suspect it’s a matter of when rather than if he will be joining Manchester United yet still there has not been a formal approach Club to club and this is where things will develop next there need to be some

Negotiations is there going to be a compensation fee will he have to sit out a period of gardening leave before joining Manchester United it is going to happen it’s now just about timings and finances right Chris I’m going to come to you in just a second because I can

See you just chomping at the bit to to get in on this one but but Laurel from a man united perspective like who’s leading this obviously inos uh talking about best in class right so we’ve already seen a movement from Manchester City to Manchester United who’s leading who’s spearheading this pursuit of Dan

Ashworth my impression of it is that sday bford is very much at the Forefront um he’s got an existing relationship with Dan Ashworth from the their working together at the fa in 20186 uh when Dan Ashworth was the technical director and and Dave braford was brought in as a

Kind of advisory role uh about the best practice at the fa uh and they’ve continued that relationship ever since um you know braford has got you know quite long lasting relationships with people in football and Ashworth being Prime amongst them so I think as David said you know he was always Prime in

Their thoughts for this kind of role a strategic uh uh builder of clubs is is kind of how he has built a career um and I mean yeah obviously there’s other people around the situation jeanclaude Blanc who is also the inos um of chief executive of sport um he’s got a board

Seat at uh United as well once the ratification fully goes through um and Omar barer as well the chief executive I think United wanted to uh the incoming chief executive I should say they they they wanted to um work from the top down basically you know realized that it’s

Not a great situation to have perhaps you know a sporting director brought in and then a chief executive appointed above them who they might not have known they were going to work for so as it stands you know Dan Ashworth knows that if he you know if this all gets sorted

Which we expect it will that he will be working underneath Omar barard you know a kind of football focused chief executive which is a bit of a move away from what United have had previously so um yeah that all being said it’s uh yeah a situation that is developing but as

We’ve touched on it’s going to be basically how much do Newcastle want to let danash leave properly and start work for you Manchester United all right Chris let’s go um take it off gloves off now mate I mean look it look like Newcastle were building something um it still feels like they’re building

Something and now a key component in that in Dan Ashworth is looking like leaving Newcastle and Eddie Hal I mean didn’t say much about it but you got a sense that he knew what the in that the inevitable was going to happen yeah I mean this has been portrayed by some and

Certainly a lot of Newcastle fans is well you know that these things happened what how vital really was Dan Ashworth but that Mis portrays Newcastle set a exhaust of search to bring in a sport and director they used an external partner to get there and it was Dan

Ashworth who they wanted and then they were willing to wait through his garden and leave from Brighton and then ended up paying compensation to get him early he was the key builder of the club as they saw it because Newcastle had a very skeleton staff and a skeletal in

Infrastructure but Dan Ashworth has started the process of building that out and he’s now he SE nine departments at Newcastle and he is he is the architect there and he’s only 20 months in to a role which really he sees as being multiair usually five to six years to

Have a huge impact now David described Eddie House’s press conference as extraordinary on Friday and I was there and I agree because I went in thinking how is he going to deal with this situation if Dan Ashworth hasn’t communicated usually Eddie how goes in with a straight bat but that was never

Going to be sustainable because rightly there were a lot of questions to be asked as to well what impact is this having on Newcastle your sporting director you don’t even know if he’s he’s going to stay and how was it was sort of quietly cutting in a lot of what

He said and that basically he made it quite clear that Dan asth had to to to go out the door H when he was asked about being privy to to information transfer plans the like he was even asked at one St should he even be still

In the building at this point should he be marched out and his response was not no you know he still works for us it was you have to ask someone above me not me myself and then there was also comments about um it was it a really weird

Response that he gave was when he was asked he said the biggest compliment I can play to Dan is that when it comes to recruitment he basically hasn’t changed anything since the first window before he arrived and that was almost suggesting that you know he hasn’t

Really been as as as as involved as people suggest and and I mean that is slightly disingenuous because Dan asth has been heavily involved since he came in but relationships were already built between Eddie how the ownership um Steve Nixon the head of recruitment various

Other people at the club who had to work through that first window and so Dan ashth came afterwards and it was almost like building the club backwards to a certain degree you would usually have the sportting director would appoint the manager but that wasn’t the case at

Newcastle and and clearly the way that Dan Ashworth is has handled this orbe it I’m sure he would argue how can he do anything where man united haven’t actually approached Newcastle there’s been a lot of frustration in turny at Newcastle as to how it affected them

Over the course of last week if not months yeah so this kind of news though for a Newcastle perspective and especially what Newcastle are trying to build um from your perspective if he does end up going to Manchester United I mean how how damaging is this for that Newcastle

Project I think it’s damaging in the sense that he’s going to a who Newcastle want to see as a direct rival I mean at the minute they they aren’t in the sense that Newcastle still don’t have the revenue that Manchester United do and so that that’s been the issue since since

The Takeover happened that on the field certainly those F first 18 months when Newcastle managed to qualify for the Champions League basically the team jumped ahead of the rest of the club the rest of the club has not caught up yet the infrastructure still isn’t sort of

Big six level and certainly the revenue streams aren’t and that’s why Newcastle have issues with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations why they couldn’t spend in January when the maybe would have wanted to and so to lose Dan Ashworth who knows all of what’s happened at Newcastle there to

Manchester United who even given all of maybe the issues they’ve had over the last few years still remain one of that established Elite and and want to be returned to former glories for Dan Ashworth to be there building that rather than building it Newcastle it is undoubtably a blow now Newcastle

Themselves are adamant that they can bring someone in that things will keep moving on and they will but as I said earlier he was the handpicked choice to begin with and to lose him only 20 months in is it really will affect things David you know um if Newcastle do

Get 20 million for Dan Ashworth or a Healy compensation um Chris just alluded to it there you know PSR and for the bank balance that’s not bad is it there’s so much going on here uh beyond what we’re talking about so firstly uh Newcastle as we understand it20 million

Um that doesn’t mean that they’ll get it Manchester United uh do not intend to pay what they believe to be an unrealistic fee and if they need to wait the word from Old Trafford is that they will and perhaps other staff can come in in the meantime which we’ll talk about a

Bit later um and what would be expected to happen here is that some talks will take place and they’ll find some sort of compromise um Dan Ashworth will be on full pay as we hear it and therefore that’s another consideration in all of this do Newcastle want him sitting at home and

Pruning his garden for a considerable amount of time while giving him his full salary um and you know there’s a lot of politics there was a a big piece in the Times by Martin Samuel talking about how you know Newcastle trying to grow in a certain way and within Premier League

Circle and votes that have taken place at shareholders meetings Manchester United have kind of tried to steer things from a political point of view in a different direction such as the financial fair play rules and um the regulations around related party Investments and transactions and so

There will be some here saying well this is coming back to Vite Manchester United now so that’s the sort of wider um sort of game at Play but in this sort of micro level I think um surely sense will be seen at some point soon and and and compromises will be

Reached but it it really is fascinating and I I don’t think Manchester United are going to have everything their way in this sense they want a member of staff at Newcastle United and and they’re going to have to perhaps go beyond where they were initially expecting to at the same time Newcastle

Won’t want this hanging over them forever they’ll need to move on they’ll need to get a replacement in um so one thing I suspect is that these are probably sort of opening salvos and then as we go forward some common sense will prevail I hope I hope this is football

This is the Premier League so common sense Premier League I’m not sure uh Lori um am I right in thinking that actually this is a name Dan Ash’s name is something that’s been floated around Manchester United before I mean so Alex Ferguson I know um thought this is

Someone that United should be hiring yeah um our understanding is that Sir Alex Ferguson made a recommendation to Richard Arnold the previous chief executive when he first came in this is February 2022 this is just at the time when Dan Ashworth was looking to leave Brighton and go to Newcastle and is a

Bit interesting Chris I don’t know if you maybe could touch on this just briefly in that um you know it’s a similar situation right you know Newcastle had to wait for Brighton to kind of come to a compromise it took about 3 four months ultimately they came

To a fee um and and what the reality of that in that intervening period is interesting you know guarding leave is he is he absolutely just at home you know as David says pruning the bushes mowing the grass um you know I don’t know where he is as of Monday morning

But he was on TI side over the weekend he was there for the game on Saturday and then he informed New Castle on Sunday so he sort of splits his time between he has as he did when he was at Brighton he still has his home in the

West Midlands near wolver Hampton but then he does stay the majority of the week up here so I don’t know where he is as of Monday at 128 that’s a great location update that Chris that’s far more detailed than I was anticipating there it’s quite interesting because um

A lot of people have pointed to that geography as being more attractive for Dan Ashworth I think he’s got a son playing for Bolton as well I was reading um so that may be a factor as well it’s quite interesting it hasn’t been the ideal um appointment you could say for

Newcastle even though he was the one that they targeted over a number of other candidates who I remember in the mix at the time there were very strong reports about Michael emano for example formerly of Chelsea um and some quite heavy suggestions that he was on the

Verge of getting it but then Dan Ashworth appeared and like Chris said they went to quite significant lengths to to get him in Dan Ashworth when you look at his um background at West bromich albian at the Football Association England national team and then Brighton and Chris alluded to this

Actually Eddie how did too in his press conference these are long-term jobs um you tend to see the fruits of your labor over a considerable number of years not a short time frame and I think even by his own admission Dan Ashworth probably would have felt that Ron was actually

Cut short because of the Newcastle opportunity and this wouldn’t have been in the plan I don’t think he would have gone up to Newcastle expecting to leave so soon after and so it’s a bit of a jolt to the system for everybody one thing that’s quite interesting is that

Eddie how clearly um having come before Dan Ashworth but also having done well there has built a power base a really strong relationship with ownership certainly in terms of the UK based ownership and perhaps that didn’t create the ideal environment to for Dan Ashworth to operate within uh clearly

When he then goes to Manchester United as Lori outlines he’ll be working with somebody he’s very close to in s Dave brailsford pre-existing relationship and this topd down um approach that inos are taking will dictate that he will be empowered as will others like Omar Bara

And a couple more who will come on to talk about to build their own teams and um I didn’t actually answer your original question io on PSR and forgive me but we need to come back to that Newcastle will be looking at this and wanting to get the biggest fee possible

They’ve not been able to spend in January they’re going to have challenges spending in the summer all because of this process of balancing the books and if they can get a big fee in for a sporting director who if they are so important why aren’t we talking about

Them in the same way we talk about player transfers even very average players who go for more money than this um and equally Manchester United they’ve got a challenge from a financial fair play perspective of their own and every bit of money that goes out on somebody

Like Dan Ashworth is taking away from what that person when he comes into Manchester United is going to be able to spend so that’s another thing that we need to consider under the surface in all of this it’s it’s really quite fascinating and and remarkable but it it

Seems to be a move that Dan Ashworth felt how often is it going to come around is it too good to turn down to be part of what many feel as an exciting new project at Manchester United and if it succeeds I and many others feel it has the potential given Manchester

United’s history and status and DNA and fan base and marketing appeal and and so much more besides to be one of if not the biggest projects in World football it certainly does feel as David’s touched on there it’s negotiation a foot right it’s a game of

Poker it is we know what our position is on the Newcastle United side you know inos Manchester United also we know what our abilities are in this hand of of cards um and so on gardening leave and you know he’s he he does have some Secrets I suppose to newcastle’s Summers

You know is is he really you know not going to have any communication with anybody at Manchester United in that period that’s a question that I’d be kind of interested to know um but is that does that then become a bit of Leverage in in Manchester United s

Newcastle come on the reality of the situation is you just want us to pay you a certain amount of money let’s just get around the table and negotiate that and come to a certain fee that’s ultimately what Newcastle did with Bri and just back to your original question

AO that’s at the point obviously when Sir Alex Ferguson was suggesting to Richard Arnold the former Chief Executive that Ashworth would be a decent person to perhaps have a look at and maybe employ because Arnold was asking questions about the structure at United how have they spent all this

Money on Recruitment and it’s not really got them all that much to show for it um but uh my understanding is that when that call was made by Richard Arnold to Dan Ashworth as I saying it was it was in the process of this sort of move from

BRS we hadn’t you know fully greed Newcastle it was sort of this exit clause so at that point man would have still had the same discussion with Brighton over over that exit if they’d have chosen to pursue that route um but the proposal for Ashworth in that situation was more to work alongside

Possibly even underneath John mer who was the football director is the football director and um that was something that Ashworth wasn’t really uh interested in as David’s touched on he’s more of a you know the the top guy to put it bluntly um who would you know

Build out himself rather than kind of take Direction from other people Lori asked before about the situation when Newcastle brought Dan Ashworth from Brighton and there being similarities and there are a lot of similarities but there are also differences which I think will play into the negotiation hands

Here and that’s first of all that the way that Newcastle at least say to this stage is that they went through the front door to Brighton they were quite clear all along and that they don’t see Manchester United necessarily so far have acted in in the same way they see

This as being almost a public courtship and this certainly frustration from at least some qus on that secondly whereas Brighton I think accepted that although they didn’t want to lose Dan Ashworth they realized that Dan Ashworth was going to a club who probably had Visions above what they could achieve Newcastle

Have visions that they want to be as as Yas orayan the the governor of PF and and newcastle’s chairman has said they want to be number one now Manchester United therefore are a direct rival to them so losing him to Manchester United there is an issue there and also there

Is already a bit of tension between Newcastle and Manchester United over the course of the last couple of years even if this is going to to be in the regime there was a lot of frustration with IND the castle in January 2022 when they tried to get Jesse lingard on loan and

Were quoted a fe I think it was nearly 15 million pound to sign him on loan it was 12 to 15 million pound to sign him on loan to the end of the season and so there’s some people who certainly fans at least are suggesting Newcastle why

Should they show that and just to be Petty because you know this is football we love pettiness even at the start of of this program I went at one stage you said United and Newcastle Newcastle United fans get very annoyed at that because they are Newcastle United as

Well and it’s that pettiness in football that we all love and so they will want to see Newcastle hold their position as much as they can and it’s as everyone says this is very much a negotiating stance from both sides but Newcastle aren’t just going to let Dan Ashworth go

Because Manchester United while this situation has unfolded like this they still either want to hold him to guard and leave or at the very least they want to get good compensation to release him from it because and if you pushed me for what I think it’ll happen at this stage

I think there’s at least some voices at Newcastle who don’t want to see Dan ashth start before the end end of the summer window because that’s the concern I think at this stage is he’s privy to information newcastle’s outline plans going into that and if they can

Certainly they would be Keen for that not to happen whether that turns out in practice once they get around the negotiating table we shall see but I would say that that is certainly where some people at Newcastle see the things have been yeah very quickly I just want

To um talk about both sets of fans and I know Chris you guys have been um asking fans to send in some questions which are going to go online tomorrow from your perspective uh like what what lot of questions are coming in from Newcastle fans about this

Situation a lot of the questions are what do Newcastle do next in terms of there’s almost this acceptance that that Dan ashworth’s gone or is going so obviously he’s on garden and leave it it felt untenable from FR I’d written a column on Friday basically that it felt untenable after had House’s press

Conference that that Dan ashth would stay after that it already was was heading that way anyway now it certainly is on tenable he’s been placed on garden and leave that relationship’s not going to be rebuilt but where so what what do Newcastle do next Dan as was seen as as

A club Builder now some of that is already in place we know that a lot of the fruits of that won’t come until sort of three four years down the line maybe certainly at Academy level and elsewhere and there are still changes that need to be made but do they need someone like

Dan Ashworth who refers to himself it’s become almost a cliche but he refers to himself as sort of the The Hub of the wheel and the spokes come off it in different departments he’s not necessarily a specialist and recruitment or a specialist in any of the other

Areas he brings the right people in below him so do Newcastle decide we still need a club Builder or is the infrastructure there now and that they go for a slightly different model where it’s a slightly different specialism that a sporting director or whatever position it may be that is where all the

Questions are with Newcastle now did do they still have the same Ambitions as before everyone at Newcastle is categorically yes we do but this the second question is then how do you replace Dan Ashworth more than than who so far is what do they want to replace

Him with then it becomes who would they look to bring in okay Chris I know you’ve got a head off but thanks so much for joining us as we move to the second part make sure you listen to newcastle’s podcast with Chris pod on the time which

Is out later today as well nice one Chris thanks very much guys yeah Lori just very quickly for Manchester United fans um you know Chris has dropped an article um on Dan Ashworth and Kevin th in that I call States who’s Everton’s director of football States you know

He’s described him as an aspiring administrator the best director of football this country has produced look Manchester United have gone through several four stores at this moment in time should Manchester United fans temper excitement or genuinely feel okay we’re getting Best in Class this is a new United hland scoring everything’s looking Ticky

Boo everything’s fine isn’t it heyo four wins on the bounce uh no problems at all at Kenworth Road um uh yeah I mean you have to temper everything with United you know we’ve been here Manchester United sorry Chris I know he’s gone now but I’ll try and maintain that um we uh

Yeah be just because we’ve been here before with Manchester United and you know I think this is different in the sense of you’ve got people here now who have real momentum and force of personality to try and get things done whether they have uh whether they make

The right decisions remains to be seen but they do have a background in making a success of you know I mean SJ Ratcliffe in terms of his business absolutely incredible um sort of that that inos have had and then also s brailford with the cycling I know it

Wasn’t without controversy but you have to go back to the way that he transformed British cycling and got you know these Elite performers so and he says he’s not a football expert but he feels and Ratliff feels that you know he can pick the right people and by all

Accounts Dan aswith is a very good football executive in what United need somebody that can come in and identify the kind of positions that are required and then also get the best out of those people and make make sure that you know recruitment is on point you know making

Sure that you can go for a play at the right moment and knowing who to call in different moments you asth has got good relationships with a lot of you know agents in the football World which I think has been a bit of an issue for United previously in that you know they

They’ve maybe missed out on players because they haven’t been able to go on the front foot for them or or have the kind of strength of their convictions that this is a play that they really should go for and and get them at a cheaper price rather than kind of wait

Until they’ve perhaps produced elsewhere and then they’ve had to pay a higher Fe for them which goes back to the financial fair play the PSR uh regulations and calculations um that’s why United are in this kind of tight position because they’ve overspent uh for several years so um I do feel like

That this is a bit different than the previous times when we’ve heard about the change because previously you know so the last time there was this kind of all you know United changing their structure was when you know John M was appointed football director and Darren Fletcher was appointed technical

Director and that was you know Edward Wood’s executive um Vice chairman saying you know we’re gonna go down this this more um sort of Continental route and have you know a better link between the board and the manager and really it wasn’t it didn’t work out like that it

Never really was going to because these were internal appointments from with people that hadn’t done that level of job before whereas with Dan Ashworth he’s proven over the years at West B albian at Brighton at the fa and more recently Newcastle although I know it’s

You know perhaps not as um you know deep deep a pool to to have a sample of um at Newcastle but he’s done this job you know so it it does fit um and yeah whether or not he can actually then make Manchester United a success because there’s a different level of expectation

At Manchester United there’s more scrutiny um it’s perhaps more difficult in certain scenarios to get value for money because people see Manchester United calling and they had a few zeros on um but I still think there’s there’s very many ways in which man united could be better at um you know getting good

Value for players and also just the kind of cohesive unit of a football club all the different departments coming together which is something that yeah Dan Ashworth should be able to help with and it’s not going to be alone is it I mean you know uh David’s already

Reported about uh Jason Wilcox being identified as a senior football role um I believe there’ be somebody else coming in as well at least and this is feels like it’s going to be an evolving situation that brailford is very Hands-On with yeah I mean David let’s talk about that you know the the

Infrastructure or the structure I should say at Manchester United Omar Bara already coming in from Manchester City potential Ashworth and also a name Lor just mentioned in Jason Wilcox what is it starting to look like behind the scenes at Manchester United now look it’s abundantly clear that inos will

Have had a very um defined picture of what they envisaged for Manchester United it might not be too dissimilar to how they’ve operated in cycling or sailing or their other football clubs OG nce and loanne Sport um but tailoring it towards Manchester United and what their due diligence um

Uncovered on how things are at the moment and what they would like to see and what they believe is needed to succeed going forward it was clearly a chief executive um of uh real potential because Omar Bara had not had held that position before but had the required

Skill set and took everybody’s by surpris when we wrote that story and they announced it and um it’s seen as being very impressive Lori describes it as a more sort of footable uh type chief executive and and many man united fans welcome that let’s see how it unfolds

And then he would build this team below him and so a key appointment being sporting director of course um it would need Omar barad’s approval but inos as we’ve explained would have already had Dan Ashworth in their thinking um there were others who were rumored

And and reported on to be in the frame um just off the top of my head there were people like um Julian Ward who did a very good job at Liverpool although his time as sporting director after Michael Edwards was quite brief um let’s see if anything develops on that front

We’re not aware of it just yet but certainly that’s a name that’s been circulated Paul Mitchell was another one as well uh he Julian Ward is available Ward left Liverpool Mitchell has left Monaco um but my information is that very early on uh he made clear to inos who he will

Know from the south of France because of course they’ve got niss and he worked at mono and I think they all lived in the same area and they’re largely English um that this was an opportunity that he did not wish to pursue and that’s created a bit of confusion among all involved as

To how there have been so many links with him and Manchester United but I think he’s returning to the UK and told them he wants to spend time with his family ahead of deciding on his next Pursuit um who else has been in the frame there have been names such as

Douge Friedman who’s done and is doing a really good job at Crystal Palace is certainly on the recruitment side and is said to be quite close to Sir Alex Ferguson Roy Hodson will obviously know him well and Roy Hodson knows the inos guys um pretty closely too um and other

Names started to float around um there was one report on the former Milan Duo of Paulo Maldini and Ricky masara um I think that was a little bit left field I even saw at one point Max herbal who um was in the process of moving to Bayern

Munich Lee conon who was formerly of Leicester city and at Atlanta so all these names came around but I think in reality they would have been focused on Ashworth and and then it’s no surprise now that names that they are actually going for are coming somewhat out of the

Blue so it’s almost like the forecasted ones are not coming to fruition Omar bar nobody had spoken about him and then bang then we broke the news last week that they are working on a deal to appoint Jason Wilcox as Lori mentioned from Southampton he’s the director of

Football there we don’t know of an official approach to Southampton yet but he is aware of the interest and Omar bar works with him previously at Manchester City where he came up from youth coach to head of Academy and so on he’s not been at Southampton Long but he is very

Well regarded in the game and Lori mentions one more appointment which we think maybe to sort of head up operations on Manchester United nce and lozanne as sort of like the multi Club model um within those there could be further appointments no doubt in time because this feels like a

Transformation and that’s why you’re seeing names like Kyle McCauley in the newspapers over the weekend he’s currently an analyst at Chelsea he moved there with Ryan Potter from Brighton and if Dan Ashworth is coming to Manchester United then the Brighton uh link naturally arises again yeah the jigsa

Slowly coming together here isn’t it exactly the pieces are falling like Tetris um and then you have another name in the public domain is Sam duel who’s Curr ly the head of recruitment at Brighton um he’s the son of the former manager Paul Joel and uh he has been

Linked with the United although we think it’s most likely he will actually move to Chelsea in this sort of merrygoround and that has led some to suspect that could this be Paving the way for the next manager of Manchester United or head coach to be Gran Potter and we know

He’s very highly thought of by inos there’s been a meeting I think it was more in relation to to nice um but I can only go on the information that I’ve got at the moment and that’s that they’re behind Eric tenh har for now and um they

Want to build with him going forward you never know in football things can of course change from their perspective from a manager’s perspective too but I think they feel they’re on a pretty good track with him at the moment and so what we’re seeing here is a a picture of even

More change at Old Trafford and a question that we’ll presumably come on to is what happens with the exist sta there because there is great uncertainty over them as well yeah I’ll come to you on that one in a second David but Lori I mean we’ve mentioned

Some big names there um Dan Ashworth armar bar um you know Jason Wilcox who when he was at city was you know in charge of players like Phil Fonda Rico Lewis Oscar Bob I mean big big names Cole Palmer and look where those young stars have gone obviously I want to

Temper excitement but I mean you you’re seeing a a bit of a I would say a fantastic group of Executives potentially coming to Manchester United to take the club to the next level I think it’s definitely exciting times in a sense of you know change happening and certainly from an

Indas perspective they feel that making these kind of bold appointments quickly you know if they do manage to succeed in all of them but it does feel that it could go that way um spreads momentum around a club like Manchester United where there has been a case of inertia

For several years because of the Glazer ownership you know having to run everything by Joel Glazer um the distance of kind of having that person at the very top of the tree um just that that Gap means that you know things happen slowly and then also just in

General you know the executive sort of team are they you know as decisive as they could be in in these in this period so I think you know the inos idea is to you know kind of come in with a bang and you know make sure that people are kind

Of taking notice and okay this is serious we better book up our ideas if we’re a staff member at Manchester United if we want to you know stay on this train um and you know it’s very difficult in football to pinpoint exactly who has done what at which

Moment you know you’ve always got somebody that wants to put their hand up for a success story and kind of shies away when you know perhaps that um that player sort of dips off and you know so you and certainly people’s stock Rises and falls at different moments depending

On results on the pitch um but I think what you have to go what you have to go with and boil it down to is what are these people doing as their processes are they good at you know getting back to people do they have strong relationships with the relevant um

Individuals you know are they honorable you know can you um do they have a good eye for talent and and a ability to kind of go for that person at the right moment so all these factors I think if you kind of accept that there can be

Fluctuations in in form for players at different points that you know these are the guys that you want to go for so I think and we can all say that we’ve heard good things about barard good things about Ashworth good things about Willcox um what I would say is that I

Think maybe they have to be a little bit guarded not just to kind of appoint you know man City chief exec um will Cox who was successful at Manchester City he has also done good work at Southampton you know appointing Russell Martin and that looks like a really strong um

Appointment um but I feel like you know they do just need to be careful not to you know a copy and paste job really in Manchester City um that being said I am told that they’re sort of alar to that you know danger I suppose and you know

They know that United is a historical original club and they kind of want to assemble a team of people that can kind of collaborate but also you know justifiably um go up against each other at certain moments if you need to have that conf to produce a better result um

So but we’ll we’ll see in the fullness of time I suppose how the full team looks and then all the different responsibilities yeah Lori reminded me of a point that I meant to mention previously is that I think this while being defined in theory in their heads

In the months leading up to this investment um is also quite malleable and sort of shapable if that’s a word um and subject to change uh they’ll learn as they go that this person may be more suitable than this person or now we’ve got this person in our views are

Slightly different of course unless they had this grand plan of Omar Bara for a long long time which we don’t think they did suddenly he comes in and there will be a new voice in the room around the table and in the thinking who will bring different candidates to the table

Different ways of working so while I do think they had a plan that plan can shift and adapt according to the people the environment and just the fact that they’re getting more to grips with Manchester United by the hour I’m sure inside Carrington and Old Trafford um and the industry and English football

The Premier League which inos exper experiencing for the first time and no doubt that will create some anxiety and and maybe even distress among some people inside United now because they won’t know are we coming are we going um this is not how we work this is so

Different and and that change will not be easy for many yeah that’s the thing and you you alluded to it earlier David um do we have any thoughts of any more outgoings and incomings at Manchester United because you know you want to maintain a club DNA um but that will

Also be affected by the people leaving the club uh as well anyone shuffling their seats wondering whether or not um they might be here any yeah I might thr might throw it over to Lori but just my input is that um there will be natural uncertainty because United have a

Football director in John Mera they have a technical director in Darren Fletcher there are others around them like a deputy football director in andio Bole a head of negotiations type role um in Matt harres um a chief Scout in um Steve Brown and all of these people

No doubt will want some clarity on where they stand where things go from here and maybe inos want to keep some or all of them but what is the role going to be do they want to stay in that new role so many conversations need to take place

Now that this deal is going to be announced officially we think this week um and so I think those next two three weeks and couple of months heading into the summer are just absolutely vital to establish what happens to the existing people do they stay in their roles do

They move into different roles um it cannot be easy for them hearing all of this noise um while they’re currently working on a business as usual basis because they are planning towards the summer transfer window and they are running the club on a day-to-day basis

Um but you’re sort of doing so with one hand tied because you don’t know where you’ll be come the summer yeah I mean as David touched on there I think that’s absolutely right um there’s probably been quite a lot of political jocking behind the scenes um

Fact I know that has um since Theos were were you know revealed as as actually the deal happening um because people are you know understandably justifiably um trying to protect themselves you know this is unsettling time for for many um yeah as you’ve touched on there the football

Director uh John mer his position has been under scrutiny um since this uh deal was announced because inos came in with the intention of appointing a sporting director now you know does if Dan aswith is to be that person does he you know how does he see that role with

John M happening and that’s what David’s touched on there this is kind of maybe an evolving situation where there might be you know intentions but actually until you kind of get to grips with things and see the realities you know things can change um you know I think

That being said you know the sense has grown I think that since brailsford’s been in the door that you know John M will ultimately exit the club um but how that happens and in what form I don’t know um there has been a suggestion that

He could and he would be able would be open to taking a sort of reduced role or a different role finding that he’s you know provided a lot of value in terms of the administration of the club he certainly knows all the ins and outs at Carrington so whether anyone else look

At that and go actually you know there’s there’s a different use for you here then um that’s something they’ll have to come to decide Darren Fletcher I mean it was always an interesting sort of appointment him as technical director just because he hadn’t done the job

Before and he’ kind of come in as a a coach under alun solw learning his badges really it was a developing coach as well now obviously he’s got the heritage in Manchester United he understands the club he knows what it is to come through the academy and to work

And and Toil and and and the realities of the situation his two sons actually his twin sons are now have made the switch themselves from Manchester City to United and and they’re in the uh the academy setup now um so but I do think his role will be sort of reimagined and

I get the sense that he is someone that is you know very valuable to United so they would like to keep him around but but the technical director role it’s just not really what he’s been doing it’s been more of a sort of bridge between the academy and the first team

And also helping out a little bit with first team coaching and trying to provide a little bit that cultural uh background to the club I suppose um but yeah and there’s other people in there I do I am told that inos appreciate that there are people there that have um

Great skills and great strengths and perhaps with a bit more focus and Leadership they can really Thrive so I wouldn’t say that you know it’s absolutely uh a scorched Earth policy at all um but just with a little bit more sort of you guidance then people can

Really and a sort of License to thrive then people you know might well take that um just on on Steve Brown just a small point and it kind of goes into what we’re talking about here his official role as director of football oper director sorry just a a small point

On Steve Brown and it kind of goes into what we’re talking about in terms of how roles get delineated but his official title is director of scouting operations so he actually doesn’t really make calls on players I mean it was first sort of presented to me a few years ago when his

Name popped up in the conversation maybe like you know 2018 2019 that he was head of recruitment uh and so I don’t know if that actually then changed you know throughout the course of the next couple of years and it’s it’s definitely now director of scouting operations so he

Kind of organizes the scouts and United have have had you know 140 uh over the the globe and and in you know full-time and part-time work which is a lot of Scouts and have actually you know worked recently to kind of tailor that so that that they’re already making changes in

That department um but yeah the these are all the kind of things that will be discussed and have been discussed but it is easier said than done I think getting to grips with a club the scale of Manchester United and then trying to write the ship tiny addition to

That I should D my tin hat because man united fans who are so excited about this revolution might not like or appreciate this evolutionary tone but um inos very conceivably will come in and look at all of these departments and see that some quite good work was underway

Yeah perhaps it hadn’t come to fruition so far although there’s been some good results recently but I’m talking more longterm um that of these people for good or for bad have been at the club a long time know its workings and were trying to bring about the changes that

Were necessary so it’s not inconceivable that inos will ask what they were doing find out and say oh that’s not actually too bad and just try and enhance it and harness it in their own way and that Taps into what Lori is saying that some of their skill sets are

Applicable uh for what inos might want going forward and they’ll then have to adap that because I’m sure inos like any company in their Position will start to implement and Infuse ways of working language processes that are not what United have been used to and and this is

All part of like a a blending process that everybody at the club is going to have to get used to because I don’t think many appreciated just how influential inos would be given it was a 25% State they were presented as minority um owners but clearly they have

Intentions to become the full owners of Manchester United we’re seeing that with stadium plans and local Area Redevelopment but also the way they are um immersing themselves into the club uh I think that has perhaps uh taken many of us by surprise in that they are the

Ones running the show now they have got the keys to this and yes the glazers Remain the majority shareholder and uh still have a significant voice in matters um but this is the inos show yeah well some big changes still to come at Manchester United clearly buckle your seat belts

Manchester United fans it’s going to be a fascinating ride to say the least jet thanks so much for your time David Lori and also Chris as well now don’t forget to rate and review the podcast and we’ll be back for another episode tomorrow appreciate you listening if you like

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