Cantona SLAMS Ratcliffe as Ferguson 'sacked' from ambassadorial role

Manchester United legend Eric Cantona has taken aim at the club's new Ineos part-owners in the wake of Sir Alex Ferguson's lucrative multi-million pound ambassadorial role being axed.

Ferguson is the most successful manager in Premier League and United history, building a dynasty that dominated the first 20 years of the competition and defined a period of English football. 

The Scottish manager left the club after 27 years in 2013, having guided the club to one last top-flight crown, which is still the most recent the Red Devils have won. 

However, on Tuesday it was revealed that new part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe informed Ferguson he would no longer be a paid employee at Old Trafford beyond the end of the season for the first time in 38 years.

The decision has unexpectedly provoked the ire of a number of United legends, the majority of whom all retain a strong respect for their former boss, with Cantona no different as he slammed the controversial decision on Instagram.  

'Sir Alex Ferguson should be able to do anything he wants at the club until the day he dies. Such a lack of respect,' wrote the legendary United icon on Instagram. 

'It's totally scandalous. Sir Alex Ferguson will be my boss forever! And I throw them all in a big bag of s***!'

Cantona was one of the key pillars of Ferguson and United's dominance over English football in the early days of the Premier League. 

Between 1992-97 Cantona and the Red Devils under the great Scottish manager won four Premier League titles, two FA Cups and three Community Shield crowns.  

Ferguson has been a near-constant presence at Old Trafford despite his departure over 10 years ago. 

He is a frequent presence at games, while the legend of his time in charge has perhaps served as something of an unsurpassable bench mark for each manager to have come in his wake.  

Sources insist the meeting in which Ferguson was informed was entirely amicable and the 82-year-old, who will keep his title as a non-executive director, remains a close friend of the club who will always be welcome at Old Trafford.

But the decision once again demonstrates Ratcliffe’s determination to drive down costs after United last month announced net losses for the fifth year in a row. The new co-owner has carried out a savage redundancy programme leading to the loss of 250 jobs – with Ferguson the biggest sacrifice by some distance.

He has often been seen sitting next to Ratcliffe in the directors’ box and chatting with the Ineos owner since he paid £1.3billion to acquire 27.7 per cent of the club.

The Glazer family were happy to let Ferguson continue in his well-paid role, writes Mail Sport's Chris Wheeler, partly as an acknowledgement that his success on the pitch brought huge financial benefit to the club.

But Ratcliffe has taken a more businesslike approach and decided that United can no longer afford to pay such a high price for Ferguson’s services when the rest of the club is feeling the squeeze.

For the time being, Ferguson retains his place on the club’s football board, a largely honorary body that included Sir Bobby Charlton before his death last year.

Besides the redundancy programme, which could save United up to £45m-a-year, Ratcliffe has presided over a round of cost-cuts that has included withdrawing corporate credit cards and chauffeur-driven cars for executives, and free travel for employees to the FA Cup final in May.

It’s understood that this year’s staff Christmas party has also been cancelled, with sources accepting that it would be in bad taste after so many colleagues lost their jobs.