Manchester United are doing what they should have done five years ago with restructure

Ed Woodward resurfaced on Tuesday with the announcement he is now a trustee for the Bloomsbury Football Foundation. The only interview access offered was with the foundation's chief executive.

Woodward continues to keep his counsel on his eight-and-a-half fraught years as executive vice-chairman at United. It will make for a riveting read whenever his memoirs are published.

John Murtough was one of the last scions of the Woodward era at United. He joined the club in December 2013, jointly ran the academy in 2015, quietly gained the title of head of football development in 2016, recruited players for the women's team in 2018 and assumed the inaugural football director role in 2021.

Murtough greeted Jose Mourinho on his first day at Carrington and picked up Alexis Sanchez from Manchester Airport. When Mourinho was informed Murtough had been named United's football director, he had no recollection of him.

Murtough's experience across all three teams - men's, women's and academy - was privately trumpeted by Woodward, who billed him as a "fixer". United are still broken. Murtough lasted three years as football director but had been on borrowed time for several months before he left on Tuesday.

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The scrutiny started to take its toll. Murtough was as amiable as he was approachable and harnessed a communicative culture with us dedicated correspondents until it emerged Ineos planned to replace him.

There were at least three occasions when one would have expected Murtough to stop for a quick "hello" or a chat only for him to blank us. It happened after the FA Cup win at Newport County in January, at the Munich memorial service in February and again on Sunday.

Murtough was chatting with Sir Dave Brailsford en route to the dressing room at Rodney Parade when a gaggle of journalists were approaching them from the opposite direction. Brailsford has been burned by the press and the chance of a relatively private introduction literally passed us by.

After the Munich service ended, Murtough seemed to hang back after most of the club-suited dignitaries had left. Those of us in the press pen still lingered in the rain and there was not a single acknowledgement when he walked past. The arrival of journalists at the mixed zone after the draw with Liverpool was Murtough's cue to head into the tunnel.

It cannot be pleasant to read unsettling stories about one's role but it is an occupational hazard, particularly if your employer is Manchester United. Murtough attempted to convince Ineos he was worthy of remaining at the club and faced intense questioning during the bidding process last year. His position was always untenable by virtue of his association with Woodward.

Back in March 2019, Woodward privately assured staff a technical director appointment was imminent to support Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following his upgrade to permanent manager. There was another two-year wait until United chose two men on their doorstep in Murtough and Darren Fletcher.

Plenty viewed that as a cop-out. Edwin van der Sar was openly keen on a return to United, Paul Mitchell hailed from Stalybridge and Ralf Rangnick had a remarkable recruitment hit rate. Yet Woodward claimed he did not want someone solely synonymous with recruitment.

He also cultivated a compliant culture. A slighted Nicky Butt left two weeks after the joint appointment of Murtough and Fletcher. Murtough survived a shouting match with Butt, who reputedly referred to his affiliation with Liverpool, where he attended John Moores University and worked for Everton.

Murtough dutifully accepted a role he never actually wanted but could not refuse. Six months in as football director, Woodward - who claimed in October 2019, "I have nothing to do with recruitment" - was attempting to claim credit for the Cristiano Ronaldo coup.

Ronaldo only changed course from City to United through Sir Alex Ferguson's intervention, with peer pressure from other club greats. Woodward hugged Jorge Mendes in the directors' box before Ronaldo's homecoming against Newcastle. Murtough may be glad he was a borderline bystander during that snatch-and-grab.

Murtough got it wrong in making Rangnick the interim manager but got it right in plumping for Erik ten Hag over Mauricio Pochettino, a manager in decline over the past five years. Murtough put the legwork in over three months to convince Casemiro to accept a new challenge at United and he did say no to Ten Hag over Hakim Ziyech. He did not say "no" often enough.

Richard Arnold jumped before he was pushed by Ineos in November and Murtough's card was marked. Someone who knows Murtough said he was poorly treated and disrespected during his last months at United. Ten Hag may not turn out to be a flattering legacy but the pair are also victims of the timing of the strategic review.

But United are now acting as bullishly as they seldom did under Woodward. One of his weaknesses was to turn to internal applicants rather than external options. Solskjaer, the longest-serving post-Ferguson manager, was as internal an external appointment as it could get.

Ineos have already head-hunted the chief football operating officer at Manchester City, one of the best-run elite clubs in world football, and Dan Ashworth, best-in-class for recruitment. The specificity of Jason Wilcox's remit will be fascinating after two relatively junior positions of academy director at City and director of football at second tier Southampton. Berrada has recommended Wilcox.

Ironically, Murtough had the right intention in hiring Rangnick, an objective troubleshooter with no ties to United. Only he should have been sat in the directors' box rather than the dugout and his consultancy contract was shredded before it had become active.

The next major decision - inevitably the manager - will be telling. United supporters would not tolerate the cronyism of, perish the thought, Sir Dave Brailsford acolyte Gareth Southgate. Ashworth, another Brailsford ally, is permissible and has the CV to back it up. Woodward never seriously considered him.

"Don't do dumb s--t" is on the Ineos compass of "words we don't like". Woodward did plenty of that.