After three months, United's "promise of promotion" seems to have faded, and the public threat by first-team players to pay for their own flights back to Manchester after the FA Cup final has made the promise hollow. Despite the team providing alternative transportation, United beat Manchester City in London to win the title, but senior players insisted on paying for their own flights, and the team stood firm.
When confronted by reporters, United insisted that a return trip had long been scheduled for Sunday - after the final night team party - however, some players opted to take off directly from London for their vacation.
"The players and senior management felt that traveling back to Manchester by bus was not professional enough and told the team to pay for their own flights simply because of the low cost, the team then compromised but were doubly embarrassed. Manchester United, the players were treated like a League One team." The source revealed.
United has had periods of instability far beyond the team's historical memory, with the most recent chaos dating back to the Glazer family's November 2022 announcement that they were seeking outside investment to potentially sell the team, which they have acquired since 2005.
After months of strategic review, Ratcliffe's Invesco group bid against a Jassim-led group for ownership of Manchester United, with both falling short of the Glazer family's expectations of £6 billion. In the end, Ratcliffe acquired a 27.7% stake and control of United's soccer business for £1.25 billion.
Ratcliffe takes over Manchester United's soccer business and promises to "get back to the top of the game", asking fans to be patient as he tries to turn the club around.
"Ratcliffe asked the Manchester United soccer staff, 'How did you get things to this point? What went wrong here?'" A source revealed, "Now he is facing the same problem, but Inglis must be held accountable."
Eight months into the Inglis-run Manchester United soccer business, with extensive revamping and the hiring of new CEO Omar Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox, United's Premier League second-half slump has left Ten Hagh unable to answer Ratcliffe's questions about job security after every game.
In an effort to cut costs and optimize United's operations, Ratcliffe & Invesco has announced 250 layoffs, the elimination of corporate credit cards, and plans to reduce its workforce to the same size as Real Madrid.
"Woodward wants us to be like Barcelona, Richard Arnold thinks it should be like the F1 racing model, and the Inglis Group wants us to be like Real Madrid." The source said of the former Manchester United CEO, "Everyone tells us that United are the biggest team in the world, so why keep imitating others?"
Players are no longer as proud of their Manchester United experience as they are of representing a top team. Bruno Fernandes considered leaving after getting fed up with the team's failure to deliver on their promises and eventually stayed and signed a new deal, which led to the team panicking and offering a lucrative deal.
Many players were confused by the influence of Inrix, and there was discontent in the locker room over cuts and treatment.
"A backroom staffer who worked for the team for more than three decades was finally optimized, and on his last day, he worked in tears while no one cared, despite his hard work for the team." A source revealed.
United continued to struggle under Ten Hagar, who, although the FA Cup win saved his place, was left as a "survivor" in a rebuilt coaching team.
Ten Hahn recruited Rene Haque from the Forward Eagles, the pair having worked together at Twente, and was joined as assistant coach by former Manchester United striker Rafael Vanney, who has produced significant results since his arrival this summer.
"Fanny looks like the skipper and acts like the skipper." A source said, "He has a charisma with his players as he talks to them one-on-one." No one will be surprised if he ends up being the new United manager.
Vanney, who made 219 appearances for United between 2001 and 2006, scoring 150 goals and enjoying a high reputation among the fans, was the last to leave the pitch after the UEFA Cup draw with Porto in October, and the 48-year-old applauded the fans after the game as they chanted his name.
Ten Hahn prefers to train in Manchester and travel to away games later in the afternoon, similar to other team coaches, but the players were unhappy with having to spend the night in Porto after the game and return to Manchester on Friday afternoon.
United extended their winless run to five games with a 0-0 draw against Villa in front of Ratcliffe, Bresford, Berrada, Ashworth and Wilcox. After the game, Ten Hagh spoke about his team keeping four clean sheets and was confident that the goal drought would improve.
United's stadium woes persist, and when the Glazer family announced a "strategic review" in November 2022, it was suggested that the motivation behind it was the realization that the facilities at Old Trafford and Carrington were outdated.
Former CEO Richard Arnold expressed the same view during the interim meeting, arguing that a new stadium and training base were necessary.
Ratcliffe's search for funds to rebuild Old Trafford remains on track after completing the acquisition of a minority stake in Manchester United.
"We have to consider all possible financing options," team COO Collette Roach said at a fan forum in July, "and it's still early in the process and we haven't made any decisions yet."
Ratcliffe is leaning towards rebuilding a 100,000-seat stadium on the same site as Old Trafford, but there are concerns about preserving the history of the century-old Theater of Dreams.
Ratcliffe is clear that every decision is made to improve the team's performance on the field, but there are already voices out there suggesting that he is only interested in the men's team and not in women's affairs.
Manchester United insists it is fully committed to the women's team, but women's boss Mark Skinner needs to act as a peacemaker between disgruntled fans and the team's owners.
Ratcliffe achieved his goal of bringing in the best executives who were charged with sorting out the mess and returning United to the top of the footballing heap by hiring Ainsworth, Wilcox and Berrada.
Ashworth will have a huge impact on reinforcements, with United suffering major failures in the area of reinforcements since the Premier League title.
United were publicly reluctant to give a firm plan to be among the title contenders, but Berrada said the goal is to win the title by 2028, the year United will celebrate its 150th anniversary.
It gives Ratcliffe more than three seasons to achieve his goal of getting United back to where it deserves to be, and shows just how far behind United have fallen and the amount of work required to reverse years of a vicious cycle.
