GARY NEVILLE has told “shambolic” Manchester United they must axe chief executive Ed Woodward. The Red Devils legend is fed up with Woodward running the football side, as the club’s inability to bring in an expensive striker to replace Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez starts to bite. And Neville has laid into his old club, […]
GARY NEVILLE has told “shambolic” Manchester United they must axe chief executive Ed Woodward.
The Red Devils legend is fed up with Woodward running the football side, as the club’s inability to bring in an expensive striker to replace Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez starts to bite.
And Neville has laid into his old club, believing Woodward and his dire transfer policy is at the very core of United‘s woeful six months since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed permanently.
The fans are also getting on Woodward’s back, believing he is the main reason United are going backwards.
They have not won away since March and are two points off the Premier League drop zone after the woeful 1-0 loss at struggling Newcastle yesterday.
During Woodward’s tenure United have spent over £250million on big names – and big wages – including Angel Di Maria (£59.7m), Henrich Mkhitaryan (£30m), Alexis Sanchez (£505,000-a-week wages), Memphis Depay (£25m) and Morgan Schneiderlin (£24m) – who have all flopped spectacularly.
Neville told Sky Sports: “They had [Marouane] Fellaini, [Ander] Herrera, [Chris] Smalling, [Alexis] Sanchez, [Romelu] Lukaku and probably four or five others who either had their chance at the club, didn’t suit the style or didn’t want to be at the club.
“He has got half of them out, there is no doubt Man United would be a better team today with those five players in the squad. Solskjaer probably knew that and so did the club.
“They were never going to get back to winning leagues and European cups with those players who have left.
“I disliked watching that group of players for two or three years. There was a lot not to like.
“I don’t believe the guy at the top should be there doing it anymore, I think he has had his chance but that is another story.”
Neville says Woodward’s transfer policy has been an absolute shambles, but his old team-mate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is now starting to have an impact and launch a complete rebuild, with the emphasis on young English stars.
He said: “They need another centre-back, they need a left-back, they need two central midfield players, they need a wide player and they need a top centre-forward.
“They need five or six top players in that squad and they’re going to cost a lot of money.
“Hopefully they can be supplemented by the young players coming through, because there is some talent in those players.
“The board need to hold their nerve.
“They’re responsible for this with poor recruitment, poor selection of managers, going with them and then pulling off them.
“They’ve also gone for different styles of managers, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer now taking the club in a completely different direction.
“If you change direction as a board every two years, investing £250m along the way in each manager, you’re going to have big problems.”
He added: “The club has gone backwards in some senses in the short-term for what would be I think a better position in the longer term.
“At the moment from a football point of view they are well short in terms of quality and getting back to winning the league, but at least I like them, which is a start.
“I think the fans like them more, and they like the manager more.
“They have got to add another two or three transfer windows like they have had with [Aaron] Wan-Bissaka, [Daniel] James and [Harry] Maguire.
“They have panicked in previous summers so at least they didn’t panic in the summer.”
