- Eric Cantona won four Premier Leagues in five years under Sir Alex Ferguson
- Legendary manager’s £2.16m ambassadorship ended on Tuesday
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Manchester United legend Eric Cantona has taken aim at the club’s new Ineos co-owners following the cancellation of Sir Alex Ferguson’s lucrative multi-million pound ambassador role.
Ferguson is the most successful manager in the history of the Premier League and United, building a dynasty that dominated the competition’s first 20 years and defined a period of English football.
The Scottish manager left the club in 2013 after 27 years, having guided the club to one last top-flight crown, which remains the most recent the Red Devils have won.
However, on Tuesday it was revealed that new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe informed Ferguson that he would no longer be a paid employee at Old Trafford beyond the end of the season for the first time in 38 years old.
The decision has unexpectedly drawn the ire of several United legends, most of whom retain great respect for their former boss, and Cantona is no different, criticizing the controversial decision on Instagram.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has relieved Sir Alex Ferguson (left) of his lucrative ambassadorship at Manchester United.
Eric Cantona has taken aim at the club’s new co-owners after ‘firing’ club icon Ferguson
“Sir Alex Ferguson should be able to do whatever he wants at the club until the day he dies. How disrespectful,” the legendary United icon wrote on Instagram.
‘It’s totally scandalous. Sir Alex Ferguson will be my boss forever! And I throw them all in a big bag of shit!’
Cantona was one of the key pillars of Ferguson and United’s dominance of English football in the early days of the Premier League.
Between 1992 and 1997, Cantona and the Red Devils under the great Scottish manager won four Premier League titles, two FA Cups and three Community Shield crowns.
Ferguson has been a near-constant presence at Old Trafford despite his departure more than 10 years ago.
He is a frequent presence at games, while the legend of his time in charge has perhaps served as a kind of unsurpassable reference point for every manager who has come after him.
Sources insist that the meeting at which Ferguson was briefed was entirely amicable and that the 82-year-old, who will retain his title of non-executive director, remains a close friend of the club who will always be welcome at Old Trafford.
But the decision once again demonstrates Ratcliffe’s determination to cut costs after United last month announced net losses for the fifth year in a row. The new co-owner has carried out a savage redundancy programme, resulting in the loss of 250 jobs, with Ferguson the biggest sacrifice by far.
He has often been seen sitting next to Ratcliffe in the directors’ box and chatting to the Ineos owner since he paid £1.3bn to acquire 27.7 per cent of the club.
The Glazer family were happy to allow Ferguson to continue in his well-paid role, writes Mail Sport’s Chris Wheeler, partly in recognition that his success on the field brought huge financial benefits to the club.
Cantona spent five years at Old Trafford under Ferguson, winning four Premier Leagues in the period 1992-97.
Cantona stressed that the former Red Devils coach will always be his boss ‘until the day he dies’
Ferguson is the most successful manager in the club’s history, having won 13 Premier Leagues.
But Ratcliffe took a more businesslike approach and decided that United can no longer afford to pay such a high price for Ferguson’s services when the rest of the club is feeling the pressure.
For the moment, Ferguson retains his place on the club’s board, a largely honorary body that included Sir Bobby Charlton before his death last year.
As well as the redundancy programme, which could save United up to £45m a year, Ratcliffe has presided over a round of cost cuts that has included the removal of corporate credit cards and chauffeur-driven cars for executives, and free travel. for employees to the FA Cup Final in May.
It is understood this year’s staff Christmas party was also cancelled, with sources accepting it would be in poor taste after so many colleagues lost their jobs.
