Gary Neville has accused the Glazers of overseeing “10 years of mediocrity” and creating a culture of greed after Manchester United suffered a third loss in five Premier League matches with Saturday’s defeat to Brighton.
The Glazers have owned Manchester United since 2005 and the club have won five Premier League titles and the 2008 Champions League during their tenure. However, they have not been crowned champions of England since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.
The family announced last November they were open to selling the club but the takeover process has yet to be resolved, with bids from Qatari royal Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamid Al Thani and British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe not meeting the reported asking price of $8billion (£6.4billion).
United were beaten 3-1 by Brighton at Old Trafford on Saturday, concluding a week that saw €85million signing Jadon Sancho ordered to train away from the first team after refusing to apologise to manager Erik ten Hag.
Neville, a regular criticiser of the Glazers, said the performance against Brighton fed into the wider failings of the ownership.
“I’ve just got back from Old Trafford and you always have to be optimistic pre-match but the most concerning thing is what we ended up watching wasn’t a surprise,” the former United right-back wrote on Twitter. “This wasn’t a lack of effort or a group of players not interested. This was a team well-beaten by opponents that were well drilled and knew what they were doing. Simple as that…
“Oh and yes the Glazers are responsible. It’s how it works. You own a business and everything good and bad sits with you! They inherited the best in all areas. They’ve overseen 10 years of mediocrity off the pitch and on the pitch. They set the culture of greed, ill-discipline, indecision and uncertainty that runs right through the club.
“It would be best if they sold the club with some speed and efficiency and allowed at least the off the pitch items to be corrected properly that re-set the tone and culture. Football is volatile so results on the pitch can be erratic and cyclical but if the off the pitch stuff including the owners direction and leadership are spot on it gives you a better chance to succeed on it.”
United return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Bayern Munich in their Champions League group stage opener.
GO DEEPER
The many problems of Manchester United
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