Jim Ratcliffe was asked why Dan Ashworth's Manchester United tenure lasted less time than his NUFC gardening leave

Sky Sports Monday Night Football is one of the most frustrating shows on the channel, starting an hour or so ahead of the actual live game, the hosts and pundits in the studio spend the majority of their time talking about anything but the match ahead.

You'd think after years of doing this, we'd be used to it by now, but the level of frustration on social media last night when the MNF crew were talking about Manchester United ahead of the West Ham United v Newcastle United match suggests otherwise.

To be fair, it's bad enough that they ignore the upcoming game for so long, but the last club Newcastle fans want to hear about before their game is Manchester United.

However, we did get some insight into something that would have interested Newcastle fans.

Dan Ashworth spent more time on gardening leave at Newcastle than he spent at Man United

Gary Neville sat down with Mike Ashley regen, Sir Jim Ratcliffe for a candid interview, during which Ratcliffe was asked why it didn't work out for former Newcastle United sporting director Dan Ashworth at Old Trafford.

Man United had to wait months for Newcastle to release Ashworth from his garden after some shady practices saw the former FA man switch to the north west, only for his tenure to last less time than his gardening leave at Newcastle.

As Newcastle fans, we of course found the whole thing hilarious. Judas got what was coming and Man United had wasted time and money on a disastrous acquisition. Inject it into our veins.

Dan Ashworth failed chemistry at Old Trafford

When asked why it didn't work out, Ratcliffe said it came down to 'chemistry' but hinted at other issues behind the scenes too.

“End of the day it was just chemistry.

“Maybe a bit more than chemistry but it didn’t work out. We decided we would make a change, we could have lived with it due to scrutiny in the media we knew we would get, but I wasn’t prepared to live with it.”

What a shame, eh?

In all seriousness, we aren't quite sure how to deal with Ratcliffe. He's been truly awful for Manchester United, laying off staff left, right and centre, embarrassing the club every time he opens his mouth. Having gone through similar times with Mike Ashley, we should be sympathetic, but ........... It's Manchester United so it's really hard to empathise.