Paul Scholes believes all Manchester United’s new executives are on trial this season, insisting the Red Devils are a “different animal” to anything they have encountered in previous roles.
Victory over Southampton on Saturday has lifted some of the pressure on head coach Erik ten Hag for the time being.
There was speculation in the summer that the new executive team assembled following Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of a 27.7 per cent stake in United might bring in a new coach, but ultimately Ten Hag was given a contract extension and oversaw some big spending in the transfer market.
In Scholes’ view, all United’s top team are under the microscope.
“Manchester United should always have the best that’s out there to fill any role,” he said.
“They have brought in people with experience, but not people with experience of a club like Manchester United. It’s different to everywhere else. Okay, (chief executive Omar) Berrada has been at City, (technical director) Jason Wilcox was at Southampton and (sporting director) Dan (Ashworth) was at Newcastle.
“Sir Dave Brailsford, what’s he done that’s been successful in football so far? I’m not sure. He was involved at Nice with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and I’m not sure how that went.
“It’s a different animal dealing with Manchester United. There’s spotlight on you every single day, every single minute of every day.”
Scholes has teamed up with fellow former United midfielder Nicky Butt for a new podcast, ‘Football’s Greatest: Eras’, where the pair speak in depth about their experiences as part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s all-conquering United side. The eight-part series will launch on Wednesday.
While Ferguson largely had a free hand on signings, Ashworth in particular will play a big role in recruitment at United, placing even greater scrutiny on him in Scholes’ view.
“Everyone talks about how well Ashworth did at Brighton, but it’s so much easier to buy these types of players for Brighton,” Scholes said.
“Manchester United need players who are ready to go now. Brighton can have them for a year or so, wait for them and then sell them for however much money, because the scrutiny is not really on them.
“If Brighton sign a player for £35-40m, nobody really takes notice until maybe he starts to do well like (Moises) Caicedo. At Manchester United they have got to be ready now, they have got to be there straight away.
Butt, who as well as playing for United served as their head of academy, believes the club are finally attracting the right calibre of people for these key off-field roles.
“Over the last five or six years a lot of the people at the top of the football club had learner plates on their head – they were never experts at being head of football or sporting director, it was just jobs for the boys,” he said.
“Whether they’re the right people or not, what they have done is filled positions with experts in their field.
“We were probably one of the biggest clubs in the world that had never had a sporting director, we’ve now got one. Whether it works or not, time will tell. (Ineos) have identified that a massive hole in the club is in the hierarchy and they have brought in expertise.”
:: Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes’ new podcast ‘Football’s Greatest: Eras’ launches on Wednesday.
