Gary Neville has summed up why Manchester United will be delighted to get Dan Ashworth, and why Newcastle United will be sad to see him go.
It now looks inevitable that Dan Ashworth is going to leave Newcastle United and become Manchester United’s new sporting director.
He wants to make the move, and it will now be up to the two clubs to agree terms and a compensation package. That will be the big stumbling block, as that will dictate when Ashworth can begin his job at Old Trafford.
For now, Newcastle will be preparing for a future without Ashworth, having benefitted from his talents since the summer of 2022. He is leaving sooner than anticipated, but he will have done a lot of good work that will continue to help the Magpies in the coming years.
That will be the hope, and Gary Neville‘s latest comments on Ashworth suggest that will be the case.
What Gary Neville noticed about Dan Ashworth at England
The former Manchester United defender has been discussing Ashworth’s imminent move to Man United on the latest episode of the Stick To Football podcast, and looked back at the job he did when they worked together with the England setup.
“Dan Ashworth did a good job at West Brom but I was there with England when he was appointed and had been there a year or two when he came in,” he said.
“There was a big change when he came in and it was quite a jolt at the time because when you haven’t got a technical director like Dan Ashworth but then you have, and he had a good relationship with Roy, he brought Dave Reading in who was a performance director. And it was quite a jolt because they were talking about kicking coaches and attacking coaches and breaking the game down into real intimate detail, whereas Roy had been working for 30 or 40 years and had a real way with coaches on the field.
“I remember Dan having a conversation with him at the time but it felt to me like they were building all these foundations below, and they started with the under-21s, under-18s, the women’s team. And you think of the success with all of those which has happened in the last 10 years and it all started really when Dan came.
“I’m not saying he was responsible for what happened in the women’s or the 21s, but he had a big impact within the FA in terms of professionalising it. The FA was a terrible organisation in terms of a professional point of view and I felt he put processes in place which were very structured and organised. He did a very good job I felt.”
Newcastle could still continue to feel the impact of Dan Ashworth
As Neville says, England are still benefitting from the work that Ashworth did during his time there. That also appears to be the case at Brighton, as they continue to thrive.
Hopefully the same happens at Newcastle, despite the fact that he was in his position for less than two years. His job was to set the Magpies up for sustained success throughout the club, so we may see him continue to have an impact at St James’ Park in the coming years even though he is about to leave.
And at Man United, he will be able to change the culture, which they desperately need to happen. It will be a huge rebuilding job for Ashworth, and Neville will be confident that he is up to the task after being really impressed with him in the past.
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