Legendary Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has launched a scathing attack on INEOS and its owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, over the running of the Premier League club.
The Englishman, who took part ownership of the Red Devils United last year, has been perceived not to have overseen any positive changes in that time – whether on the field or off it.
Ratcliffe has also embarked on some cost-cutting measures since taking over at Old Trafford, the latest being the increase in ticket prices for match days – a move which did not go down well with Scholes.
“(Ineos Group) have been in charge (of Manchester United) for nearly a year now and everything is still negative,” Scholes said told The Overlap Fan Debate. “I can’t think of something positive that they’ve done for the football club.”
He added, “Things are getting worse on the football pitch so couldn’t they have just said that they’d do cheaper tickets – couldn’t they just give us something positive? How can you ask Manchester United fans to pay more money with what’s on the football pitch?”
Scholes went on to describe the ticket prices on match days as ridiculous, pointing out Ratcliffe’s roots and how the decision on ticket prices makes him insensitive.
“£66 for a ticket is ridiculous. If you think of Manchester, there are so many deprived areas and Sir Jim Ratcliffe himself is from Failsworth, which is a deprived area,” Scholes opined. “If you take one kid with you, that’s £120, if you take a family, you’re looking at £300-400 – it’s not right.
“If we’ve got Sir Jim Ratcliffe, compared to all these American owners, who’s been a United fan since growing up in an area in Manchester, he’s still hiking prices up. It just shows that they don’t care.”