A lot of people are angry but don’t forget, Newcastle United did exactly the same on 7 February 2022…

A lot of fans, including myself, are bracing ourselves for the potential / probable departure of Dan Ashworth to Man U.

Seemingly at least in part, for not having as much control in his role as he previously thought  would be the case.

I’d have thought Dan Ashworth would have demanded and / or fully understood the details of his role before signing on.

A lot of people are angry but don’t forget, Newcastle United did exactly the same when on 7th February 2022 Brighton formally announced his resignation from the south coast club.

Then after what I would imagine as a less than friendly business transaction and some gardening leave, Ashworth officially starting his job at NUFC on 5th June 2022 – The pot calling the kettle black?

Sir Dave Brailsford (part of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos group and also involved in the shake-up behind the scenes at Man U) has a longstanding relationship with Ashworth. What strikes me about this as being a bit strange, is the fact that on 17th August 2022, just a couple of months after Dan Ashworth started at Newcastle United, news broke that Sir Jim Ratcliffe was showing interest in buying Man U.

Wouldn’t you have thought that with connections behind the scenes, Dan Ashworth would have been privy to information about the Ratcliffe / Ineos interest in the Mancs? Tongue-in-cheek, maybe it was all a plan to find out how a proper club operates…

Anyway, looking onwards and upwards, my thoughts are that Dan Ashworth will depart probably at the end of the season, given contractual obligations and compensation / gardening leave etc as per Brighton.

So, Michael Edwards, former red scousers sporting director, could be a good shout to replace Dan Ashworth?

His previous roles at Liverpool having been chief analyst, head of methodology (whatever that is!), technical director and sporting director, before departing in June 2022. Quite a CV.