Paul Scholes has expressed his displeasure with Ineos’ first year in ownership of Manchester United and claimed he “can’t think of anything positive they’ve done for the football club”.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the chairman of Ineos, struck a deal with the Glazers last December to buy 27.7% of United with a promise to revitalize the club on and off the pitch.
Since then, however, there have been a series of unpopular decisions, including an efficiency drive that saw a quarter of the club’s workforce – many in low-paid workers – sacked while children’s ticket prices have soared.
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Things weren’t any better on the pitch either, with the decision to hand former boss Erik ten Hag a new deal in the summer backfiring. The Dutchman was then sacked in October with his replacement Ruben Amorim making a slow start at Old Trafford. United are currently 13th in the Premier League.
“Things are getting worse on the pitch”
“The Ineos Group have been in charge (of Manchester United) for almost a year 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 at the football ground, so they couldn’t just say they were going to make tickets cheaper – couldn’t they just give us something positive? How can you ask Manchester United fans to pay more money with what’s on the 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 take a child with you that’s £120, if you take a family you’re looking at £300-400 – it’s not right.
“Where do these owners have the front to raise ticket prices? For value, we’re probably having our worst season in the Premier League and they’ve got the cheek to put the prices up.”
Nothing positive – Scholes
Scholes added: “There is nothing positive going on with this football club. The team looks mediocre. They do nothing for the fans.
“If we have Sir Jim Ratcliffe, compared to all these American owners, who has been a United fan since he grew up in an area in Manchester, he still drives up the prices. It just shows they don’t care.”
Ratcliffe spoke of his willingness to make tough decisions and even claimed it could boost his popularity with some of his supporters.
He told Bloomberg in the summer: “At Manchester United, I have to do some things that are not popular.
“I mean, I think at the end of the day doing difficult things, and you know, a degree of unpopularity, in a funny way, can make you more popular.
“Because someone sees that you’re standing up and making some tough decisions instead of blowing a little with the wind.”
