‘Continued 10 years of failure’ - Man Utd legend Gary Neville explains why Glazers are to blame after Bournemouth ‘disgrace’ in fresh attack on club’s owners

United were thoroughly outclassed by the Cherries at Old Trafford at the weekend, prompting club legend Neville to tear into his old side. While Neville took aim at manager Erik ten Hag and the players, he ultimately pointed the finger of blame at the Red Devils' owners, the Glazer family, once again. He added that he hopes when Sir Jim Ratcliffe's 25% stake is approved, the INEOS tycoon will take over the ailing sport department and make the club more professional.

“Look, at the moment I think we are just biding our time until the new ownership starts,” Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast. “People say, ‘You can’t blame the Glazers for this or that’ – you can absolutely put it down to the owners. They haven’t got a sporting director. They haven’t got someone who can say no to a manager.

"When Man Utd managers get a bit of a power, they take over recruitment, and they start signing players. They get bigger than they should do. Other clubs have really, really competent sporting departments. It’s down to the Glazers that Man Utd have not for 10 years – to provide the leadership, guidance and strength over recruitment. If you get it wrong, £300-400m at a time, three or four times in 10 years, that is ultimate failure. That’s down to the owners. That’s why Sir Jim Ratcliffe is going to come in and take over the sporting department. The Glazers know they can’t do it.

“Yes, Erik ten Hag should be doing better. Yes, Anthony Martial playing up front is bizarre. The style of play isn’t there. The players need to do a lot better, some of the performances individually and collectively are shambolic. The result (against Bournemouth) is a disgrace and I can’t believe it. Well done to Bournemouth, but it should not happen. But the continued 10 years of failure is down to them (Glazers).”

United ended their trophy drought last season with a Carabao Cup triumph, however, they appear to be further away from challenging for the Premier League and they could be dumped out of the Champions League this week. Ratcliffe's £1.25 billion investment($1.6bn)into the Red Devils is set to be announced any day now but for Neville, it appears that cannot come soon enough.

The Glazers revealed they were considering a sale in November 2022 but eventually knocked back bids of an outright takeover from Ratcliffe and Qatari investor Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani. Now, it seems the Glazers will allow the British billionaire to take a minority stake of the club.

Aside from the uncertainty with the ownership, Ten Hag's team are next in action on Tuesday at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Only a win can keep their slim chances of getting out of the group alive.