- Sir Jim Ratcliffe visited Carrington for the first time as part-owner this week
- Erik ten Hag had a private audience with Ratcliffe at the club’s training ground
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford have issued a rallying cry to Manchester United’s management and staff by urging them all to work together to restore the club to its former glories.
The club’s new football supremos are understood to have given the same message in a series of meetings with staff over the past three days, making it clear that United’s on-field performances in recent years have been unacceptable and that they will demand a return to the world-class standards set during the Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Mail Sport has been told that INEOS sporting director Brailsford did most of the talking during introductory meetings with United staff, although Ratcliffe was also present and has been very visible at Old Trafford and at the club’s Carrington training ground this week.
Manager Erik Ten Hag attended at least one of the staff meetings as well as having a private audience with Ratcliffe, who also met most of United’s players at the training ground.
Ratcliffe and Brailsford have yet to address the players formally as a group as they consider the dressing room to be Ten Hag’s domain, with their priority this week having been to meet and provide reassurances to the club’s non-playing staff.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe visited Old Trafford and Carrington for the first time as new Manchester United part-owner
The club’s new football chiefs made it clear that recent performances have been unacceptable
Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford have not yet addressed the players, with the dressing room Erik ten Hag’s domain
A uniform message has been relayed in several meetings, namely that United have fallen short of the world class standards expected at one of the biggest clubs in the world and that hard work was required by all member of staff to turn things around.
The pair also stressed that they expected the Premier League to ratify Ratcliffe’s purchase of a 25 per cent stake in the club next month and made clear that Ineos would be leading United’s football department from that point onwards.
Brailsford is understood to have repeatedly referred to addressing what he termed as United’s ‘performance challenge,’ a diplomatic way of describing the side’s poor results this season which have seen Ten Hag’s side crash out of the Champions League at the group stage and fall to eight in the Premier League table.
The former Team Sky and British Cycling boss also urged staff work together to diagnose the cause of the problem and to offer positive solutions.
