Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos became part-owners of Man Utd in 2024, and the problem he identified immediately upon arrival is because of him now.

It will sound like an exaggeration, but Man Utd’s competitive results have been worse under Ineos than they were under the Glazers when they controlled footballing matters.

A fluke run to third place doesn’t excuse the 2024/25 season and the current run, as the owners face a decision to sack the Man Utd manager again.

Thus, it becomes clear that Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s comment in 2024 has aged like wine, in the worst possible way for the Ineos chief.

Ineos enjoyed a lot of fan support in their early months as Man Utd fans were up for anyone but the Glazers, but that novelty has now worn off.

In addition, some blockbuster moves in the hierarchy also showed that Ineos were willing to address the main issue at the club – a lack of footballing people.

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Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth, Jason Wilcox, and Christopher Vivell were all rated highly, and there’s a reason why getting the hierarchy in place was so important for them.

It’s because Ratcliffe identified the structure above the manager as the main cause behind the high turnover in playing and coaching staff at the club.

He said at the time: “If you look at the 11 years since David Gill and Sir Alex stepped down, there have been a whole series of coaches, some of which were very good. And none of them were successful. And you can’t blame all the coaches.

“The only conclusion you can draw is that the environment in which they were working didn’t work.”

Sure enough, that environment was changed swiftly upon their arrival, but somehow, the coaches aren’t even lasting as long as they did under the Glazers.

Ratcliffe has become the problem he wanted to solve

Ineos kept marketing themselves as the best-in-class, but two years into their tenure, it is clear that they have managed to do the impossible.

The Glazer decision-making is looking better in comparison, and it is hard to argue against the results.

Still, he refuses to change the environment these coaches are working in despite saying the previous coaches failed due to exactly this reason.

Counting Darren Fletcher, United have had five men in the dugout during their two years in charge, and yet, neither Omar Berrada nor Jason Wilcox have been held accountable.

They have created a worse atmosphere than it was under the Glazers, and by Ratcliffe’s own admission, that was the issue behind the managers failing at this club.

Now that his own appointments are making it worse, he’s happy to still trust their judgement and make the axe fall on Michael Carrick.

Carrick is only a part of the problem. Ratcliffe should know that better than anybody.