Dan Ashworth followed Collette Roche through the press conference room twenty minutes after full-time on Saturday. Ms Roche, the chief operating officer, offered a polite “hello” to a colleague sitting in the front row. The grim-faced Ashworth avoided eye contact and did not break his stride.
In retrospect, perhaps Ashworth was frogmarched out. He was still clad in his Paul Smith club suit and a security official walked behind him. He was not even permitted an exit through the directors' entrance or Stretford End tunnel.
It was a little over three months ago that the former sporting director Ashworth optimistically said in the Old Trafford boardroom that he “liked” the Manchester United squad. There is little to like about it now. Ashworth, who started on July 1, and chief executive Omar Berrada chose a careful time to field questions from those of us who cover United minutely - two Premier League games into the season and before kick-off against Liverpool.
Five hours after they held court with us, United’s unravelling had begun with a 3-0 thumping. READ MORE: Manchester United break silence on Dan Ashworth departure with 41-word statement READ MORE: Dan Ashworth makes stunning exit from Manchester United after five months After that briefing, Ms Roche escorted Ashworth through Old Trafford's labyrinthine corridors from the east stand to the directors' lounge. Ashworth never truly navigated his way around United.
He sat with Sir Dave Brailsford and Jason Wilcox in t.
