Sir Jim Ratcliffe names decision Man Utd should NOT have let Sir Alex Ferguson make

When Sir Alex Ferguson walked away from Manchester United and retired, he was given the authority to handpick his replacement at Old Trafford – something co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says should never have happened

Sir Jim Ratcliffe insists Sir Alex Ferguson should never have been allowed to handpick David Moyes as his Manchester United successor.

The legendary former Old Trafford boss walked away from management in 2013, after winning a 13th Premier League crown. As he departed, the club’s owners and then CEO David Gill – also departing – allowed Ferguson to choose the man who would replace him at the helm.

The Scot duly eschewed the likes of Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp – all then potential candidates – and selected Everton boss Moyes as his replacement. Unfortunately for Moyes and United, his tenure lasted just nine months before he was sacked in April 2014.

For Ratcliffe, now in charge of footballing affairs at the club after becoming a co-owner, Moyes was never the right man for the job.

“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,” Ratcliffe candidly said in an interview with The Times.

“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.”

Since Moyes, there have been nine more United managers – whether permanent or caretakers bosses.

Yet still, none have been able to lead the club back to where Fergie left them: The Premier League title.

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