Nottingham Forest midfielder Jesse Lingard has launched a new attack at former club Manchester United.
Lingard eventually left United this summer, making a surprise move to promoted Nottingham Forest after 23 years with the club. During his earlier years at Carrington, Sir Alex Ferguson was a figurehead but since his retirement from management, Lingard believes the club fell away.
“There was no control,” Lingard told the Diary of a CEO of his years at the club. “When Ferguson was there, it was full control. A fortress – everything went through him. Contracts, commercial deals, everything.
“Of course, generations change, players grow up and people have a voice. When things are getting said about you that are not true, you are going to voice your opinion.
“It wouldn’t have happened back in the day – it would have been squashed there and then with Sir Alex. But now, people have got platforms to voice their own opinion and write what they want.”
Instability in the upper echelons were not the only gripe for the 30-year-old, who believes United, in some respects, cannot compare with their contemporaries.
“They’re so behind on everything,” he said. “You see (Manchester) City’s facilities, Tottenham’s facilities…people are miles ahead. Even the social side of things.
“I went to them in 2017 about YouTube and doing content – I just wanted them to get up to date with everything and the new things that are happening. You have to be relevant and stay relevant.”
