Manchester United legend Eric Cantona has launched a scathing assault on Sir Jim Ratcliffe, accusing the membership’s minority proprietor of “trying to destroy everything” that makes the membership particular — together with ignoring Cantona’s private supply to assist rebuild it.
Talking at a fan occasion for FC United of Manchester — the breakaway membership fashioned in 2005 by disillusioned supporters protesting the Glazer takeover — Cantona criticised the course Ratcliffe and his government group have taken because the INEOS chief’s funding turned official in February.
“Since Ratcliffe arrived this team of directors try to destroy everything and they don’t respect anybody,” Cantona stated. “They even want to change the stadium.”
Cantona, who stays one of many membership’s most revered figures, referenced proposals to switch Outdated Trafford with a brand new 100,000-seat stadium and the lack of tons of of back-office workers. He stated such strikes risked eroding the very id and “soul” of the membership.
Cantona argued that stadiums maintain deep emotional worth for followers and gamers alike.
“For me, Arsenal lost their soul when they left Highbury. Can you imagine Liverpool playing somewhere other than Anfield? It’s impossible. I don’t think United can play in another stadium than Old Trafford.”
His feedback come as Ratcliffe’s management undergoes a recent wave of redundancies, bringing the whole variety of job cuts to round 450, as a part of a wider cost-cutting and restructuring technique.
Cantona was additionally crucial of Ratcliffe’s reported sidelining of Sir Alex Ferguson in an ambassadorial capability, saying: “He is more than a legend. We have to find this soul again.”
The Frenchman revealed that he had provided to pause his movie work to assist the membership throughout its present transitional interval.
“I said to them: ‘I can put that [aside] and help you to rebuild something.’ They didn’t care … and I don’t care. But I feel sad to see United in this kind of situation.”
Cantona stated he not feels linked to the membership’s decision-making, stating that if he had been a younger fan right this moment, he may not select to assist United in any respect.
“I support United because I really love United. But now … I don’t feel close to these kinds of decisions. They are more about economy and strategy. I hate this kind of thing.”
In the course of the FC United go to, Cantona and his household — together with 4 youngsters and two brothers — signed up as co-owners of the fan-run membership, underlining his disillusionment with the course of contemporary soccer and his perception in supporter possession.
Manchester United have been approached for remark.
