Sir Jim Ratcliffe insists David Moyes 'had never won anything' and was the WRONG man to replace Sir Alex Ferguson as he reflects on Old Trafford's ownership's mistakes

In an extensive sit down interview with The Times, Ratcliffe has given his opinion on the decisions of previous United administrations. Inevitably, the conversation turned to the immediate aftermath of Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013. Ratcliffe raised concerns over Moyes' lack of silverware, and inexperience of dealing with the very best players.

The INEOS founder also panned the tenure of former CEO Ed Woodward. The former investment banker served as chief executive from 2012 - 2022, and led through a period that Ratcliffe believes would be unacceptable at other European giants such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Barcelona.

Ratcliffe said: "The way I look at it is that you had two management teams at Manchester United for the past 12 years who did a poor job because the owners weren’t like, say, Steve Parish [Crystal Palace] and Daniel Levy [Tottenham Hotspur], they weren’t really into the details. Those two know what’s going on. They’re there every day and the management at their clubs are on a short leash.

“I don’t subscribe to the school of thought that says, well, that’s just life in football, ups and downs, these things happen, because if I look at Real Madrid and Barcelona and Bayern Munich, they don’t do that. They just stay at the top. And it’s not like that here because it’s been poorly managed and they’ve made poor decisions.

“Look, I like David Moyes, and I think he’s a really good manager, but to go from Sir Alex Ferguson to Moyes is not where I would have gone. Moyes stepped into the shoes of Ferguson, who’s won the Premier League 13 times, who won the Champions League twice and then you’re handing over to a guy that has never managed big players and had never won anything. He’s not necessarily got the personality to stand in front of them all.

“And I don’t think Real Madrid would have made that choice as coach. If you look at coaches, a club can’t always get it right, but they should have found the best chief executive in the world, and the best coach in the world, because Manchester United is the best club in the world. Instead they got both of those decisions wrong.

Ratcliffe will hope his current manager can live up to his exacting standards, as Ruben Amorim's men head to Leicester for their next league game. A negative result against a sudden wave of media activity from the new boss could heap pressure back on the young manager.