// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Joint-worst start since 1992 and fan protests - Man Utd's day to forget
Manchester United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co-chair Avram Glazer were at Old Trafford for the 1-0 defeat by Manchester City
Sir Jim Ratcliffe cannot have imagined it would be like this.
When Ratcliffe agreed on Christmas Eve 2023 to spend £1.25bn to buy a minority stake in Manchester United, his intention was to restore the ailing club to its past glories.
Sitting in the directors' box at Old Trafford watching United lose 1-0 to a Manchester City side reduced to 10 men midway through the first half was definitely not part of the plan.
Ratcliffe knew major decisions needed to be made in order to slash the club's losses. And he knew they were bound to be unpopular.
But nearly three years on, he presumably felt the green shoots of recovery would be starting to grow by now.
After all, the project chief executive Omar Berrada spoke to staff about in September 2024 was an aspiration to win the Premier League title in 2028. In other words, next season.
On the evidence of this 199th Manchester derby, United are a very long shot to achieve Berrada's target.
At this point, even pacifying the thousands of fans who protested against the club's ownership before the Old Trafford defeat by 10-man City looks beyond them.
United now have four points from their opening four games. It equals their worst start to a Premier League season since 1992-93. Last season under Ruben Amorim, they also had four points from four matches.