I saw Dan Ashworth get escorted out of Old Trafford after leaving Manchester United

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.

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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 the bleachers of the Wallis Annenberg Stadium to monitor pre-season training in July. After one session, the trio held a lengthy conflab with Erik ten Hag. "How did that go?" Ashworth bluntly asked Ten Hag. Not well enough. Both are gone.

Ashworth’s sudden