Sir Jim Ratcliffe's 'two issues' at Manchester United just got bigger after typical Old Trafford welcome

In Sir Jim Ratcliffe's only major public pronouncements on his plans for Manchester United so far, he spoke of the "two issues" that Ineos faced. While one was a short-term aim and the other related to the long-term plan, they were also linked.

"We have two issues - one is the longer term, getting Manchester United to where we would like to get it, but there’s also the shorter term of getting the most out of the club as it stands today because we would like to see the Champions League for next season if we can," Ratcliffe said in February.

That was when United's chances of Champions League football were still alive. In fact, the form under Erik ten Hag was good at that point and the momentum was with them as they hunted down Aston Villa and Tottenham, while it also looked likely that a fifth Champions League place would be available to Premier League clubs.

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Fast forward two months and the picture has changed considerably. Between the announcement that a deal had been agreed for Ratcliffe to become a minority owner of the club and official confirmation that it had been ratified, United took 16 points from a possible 21 in the Premier League. Since that confirmation and Ratcliffe officially took up his seat in the directors' box, United have taken 10 points from a possible 27.

If things seemed to be trending in the right direction when Ratcliffe sat in the Ineos offices in Knightsbridge and held court for an hour, the outlook is much bleaker now. United's hopes of Champions League football next season are over with four games still to play. It is now impossible to catch Villa and