Gary Neville interviews Sir Jim Ratcliffe | "Sticking with Ten Hag in the summer was a mistake" 🔴

Right, well, I think in a funny sort of way, it's gone as we anticipated it would. We didn't think the first year was going to be easy because we had difficult things to do. But I think the club is bigger than you think until you actually arrive, and the scrutiny is bigger than you anticipate. You get your school report at the end of every day instead of at the end of every term. I used to get a clip round the ear once every term by my mother, but now I get a clip round the ear every day by the press. So those things are sort of unanticipated or underestimated. But I think broadly, where we are – which I know is a difficult place and people are not very happy about it at the moment, which is why I'm quite unpopular – it is where I didn't expect in a year of change that we would be winning the Premier League.

Criticism? Um, well, I used to enjoy picking a newspaper up in the morning, having a cup of coffee and a croissant. It's not quite so enjoyable anymore. But I think the way – we've all got our sensitivities, and it isn't pleasant to read some of the press coverage. But the way I get through it is that I believe what we're doing is the right thing, and I believe what we're doing has to be done to get United back to where United should be – winning silverware and trophies and things like that. We have to go through this too. I mean, if you don't like where United have been for the last 12 seasons since Alex retired, then I think ergo you have to accept there has to be a period of change, otherwise it's just going to continue. And change is always uncomfortable and unpleasant at times. And that's sort of where we are at the moment, unfortunately. Do you understand?

Yeah, I think – well, I'm a fan as well, remember. Fans are not going to be happy languishing down at the bottom half of the table. And yeah, I get that and I sympathize. But I didn't think this year was going to be a walk in the park. It was always going to be difficult. And if you look at the squad that Ruben's got available, he's only got...

Well, I think I've seen the performances under two managers, so I don't know whether you're asking me about the previous under Eric or under Ruben. Under Eric, it was erratic – I think that's the best word. There was some great, like when we obviously in the FA Cup against Man City, they all turned up and played like they were in a cup final. Then other times, Crystal Palace or whatever, they didn't show up. Under Ruben, what we've seen I think was difficult at the beginning, and I sort of get that. But then I think we've seen progress. Some of the players we bought in the summer have settled. It's quite tough, isn't it? You come from playing in other leagues – it's not an easy league to play in, and there's a lot of scrutiny. Look how Zirkzee got knocked about yesterday in the first half; he really got knocked about. He wouldn't be used to that playing in the Italian league. So it takes time for players to settle. But I think if you look at Ruben yesterday against Arsenal, he only had half a squad. How many players would most people recognize on the bench? It was hardly a name you'd recognize. The guy we brought on, Heaven – we only bought him three weeks ago from Arsenal, he's only 18. And we had Obi on there – he's only 16, I think, and he's played once for the first team. There is only half – I think if you look at the top eight most expensive players we've got in terms of salary, four of them are not available to Ruben. If you did that with Liverpool or Manchester City, that's the cream of your team, half the cream has gone. So I think I've seen progress. We saw a bit of a glimpse of the future yesterday. Yeah, I did – in the second half. I thought they were quite cohesive, you could see the game plan, and the players played their hearts out for Manchester United. They really did. You could see De Ligt, you could see the tackle that Heaven made – it really meant something to them.

Will come good? Yes, yeah, I do. And how do you assess? But bear in mind, recruitment last summer – we didn't have the luxury of time to prepare for last summer. Jason had been there three weeks, Omar had been there three days. We had the problem with the coach. Is that a yes or a no? We were involving the coach and not involving the coach. Did you involve the coach? Did you involve the coach? Eric signed a lot of those players? No, he didn't, but he was involved in the discussions and he influenced. At the end of the day, a decision on a new player or a purchase isn't a decision of one person; it's a group of people who influence that decision one way or another. So yeah, he did have a voice, which is why we signed one or two Dutch players.