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Dan Ashworth’s departure from Manchester United suggests there is a bigger problem behind the scenes at Old Trafford.

That is the view of Henry Winter, co-host of talkSPORT’s Sunday Edition, who has branded the whole breakdown in the appointment as ‘bizarre’.

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The ex-Newcastle boss was appointed sporting director just five months ago, but has now become one got off. talkSPORT understands that the two clubs have agreed a £10 million compensation package after months of negotiations.

Ineos chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe appointed Ashworth as part of his takeover of Man United’s football side, but is now returning to the drawing board.

Discussing the failed appointment on talkSPORT shortly after the news broke, Winter said: “Dan Ashworth came over from Newcastle United via a visit to his garden and now this has to happen…

“I wrote a book about England a few years ago and spent some time with him. He is very meticulous and works very hard. He knows so much about players around the world.

“When he was in the Football Association, he followed the young stars emerging in all the elite and less elite football countries.

“He definitely had his finger on the pulse of emerging players and you would think he was absolutely perfect for it Manchester United.

“There’s clearly a bigger issue here, but it’s just bizarre.”

In Ratcliffe’s recent interview with United We StandMan United chief declared they are paying the price for very poor recruitment.

He also said that their data analysis doesn’t really exist and is still in the last century.

But when asked if Ashworth had time to correct that, Winter said: “It’s good to see and hear owners communicating your knowledge directly to the fans because at the end of the day you know that along with the players they are the most important people being in the club.

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“But I just find that downright bizarre. He talks about the data analysis, he says it doesn’t really exist.

“He says the recruitment is very poor and that is what Dan Ashworth was brought in to do.

“So I think it’s very bizarre.”

The decision was made over the summer to retain former manager Erik ten Hag following his FA Cup victory, despite the club finishing in eighth place last season – their worst ever finish in the Premier League.

He was sacked at the end of October while the club was in 14th place.

And talkSPORT’s chief football correspondent Alex Crook wonders whether the decision not to replace Ten Hag this summer was the cause of Ashworth’s demise.

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He said: “It will be fascinating to see how United explain this because on the face of it it looks like another very costly mistake from Ineos.

“When you think about how much time they spent trying to get Dan Ashworth from Newcastle, how many millions of pounds they spent on that. He had one summer transfer window and he left the club.”

“This comes after a summer in which United expensively agreed to appoint Erik ten Hag as manager.

“I ultimately wonder, despite the fact that United will probably dress this up as mutual consent, whether this Dan Ashworth will pay the price for that decision?

“I know Sir Jim Ratcliffe has had a big influence on it and that was agreed after the defeat to Forest yesterday.”

talkSPORT understands that Ashworth felt left out of the big decisions almost from day one, with Omar Berrada and Sir Dave Brailsford calling the shots.

The turning point would be a new manager Reuben Amorim‘s appointment.

Ashworth preferred a British coach, for example former England manager Gareth Southgate, to replace Erik ten Hag.

On Ashworth wanting Southgate, Crook added: “I think Graham Potter was another manager that Dan Ashworth championed. And if you go back to how Amorim was appointed, it was Omar Berrada who was in charge.

‘I understand that Sir Dave Brailsford was one of the first people to actually speak to Amorim in person.

“So if you’re in the position that Dan Ashworth is at the football club and you’re actually not really an important part of those negotiations, then maybe the writing was on the wall. But things are looking very bad for Ineos and for Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

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“It’s because we’re staying with Ten Hag and paying him more than £11 million to leave. Ticket prices at Old Trafford have been controversially increased to £66, even for a junior.

“Ratcliffe raised that in one of the fanzines yesterday and made what I think were some offhand comments, tone-deaf comments about the fact that it’s not true that Fulham tickets are more expensive than Manchester United tickets.

“So I think if you look at what INEOS has done so far, and I think Amorim will probably be the right man for the football club in the long term, I’m not that impressed and I think a lot of United fans will feel the same.”

talkSPORT also understands there was a clash of personalities between the leaders.

After going unbeaten in their first three games in charge, Amorim’s side have lost two games in a row.

The first came in the form of a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in the week, before Nottingham Forest beat them 3-2 at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Forest took the lead within two minutes through defender Nikola Milenkovic, before Rasmus Hojlund equalized just over fifteen minutes later.

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But Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood’s quick double after the break secured all three points for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, with Bruno Fernandes’ goal on the hour mark ultimately only a consolation.

Reflecting on the defeat, Amorim said Air sports: “It was a tough match, we started the two halves very poorly.

“It was difficult to convey some calm to the players and continue the match as we should. We didn’t have a lot of quality, but we had a lot of heart. In this context it is very difficult to score two goals after the break have to make.

“We need more time to position ourselves. If you see the first goal, it was a good combination between the players and after the first goal we had good moments, we created chances, but then we moved on without thinking.

“It is a difficult context, but we have to understand that this is a long journey and that is what our job is.”