Though Manchester United Manager, Ruben Amorim admits Dan Ashworth’s exit is “not the best situation” but he believes the exit of Manchester United’s sporting director “doesn’t change” anything.
Sunday morning brought the stunning announcement that the 53-year-old sporting director was leaving Old Trafford just 159 days after arriving from Newcastle.
Manchester United spent several months negotiating Ashworth’s appointment, with Ashworth – who also worked for the FA and Brighton – spending a period of time on gardening leave from St James’ Park.
Amorim faced the media for the first time since the sporting director’s abrupt exit ahead of Thursday’s Europa League group game at Viktoria Plzen, where the first questions focused on that development.
“The first thing I want to say is that since the first day I felt great support from the ownership,” Amorim said.
“From Omar [Berrada, chief executive], from Dan, from Jason (Wilcox, technical director). Dan was part of that and I really felt support from Dan.
“But this is football and sometimes these things happen. It happens with players, with coaches.
“I know that it’s not the best situation but the important thing is we continue in our way. The path is really clear for everybody and I think this can happen in football.”
The vision at Man Utd is clear – Amorim
Asked if he is concerned that United were more unstable than when he first arrived a month ago, Amorim said: “I don’t think so.
“Like I said, I’ve felt since day one the support from everybody, so one person leaving doesn’t change nothing.
“Of course it’s a bad situation because we are talking about a human being, a professional, that supports us as a team.
“But I think the most important thing is that your vision is really clear and that vision doesn’t change if only one person leaves.”
