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Man Utd chief Ed Woodward explains Phil Jones West Ham incident and what was said
Manchester United chief Ed Woodward was seen snapping at Phil Jones during the 2-0 Premier League defeat to West Ham last month.
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Manchester United chief Ed Woodward has insisted he didn't tell Phil Jones to 'stop it' during the 2-0 Premier League defeat to West Ham last month.
The Red Devils slipped to a dire defeat at the London Stadium with goals from Andriy Yarmolenko and Aaron Cresswell giving the Hammers all three points.
During the game, the Sky Sports cameras panned to the Manchester United box where Woodward appeared to be giving Jones a stern telling off.
Fans believed Jones had said 'sacked in the morning' in reference to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who oversaw the defeat.
But Woodward, speaking to United We Stand, has insisted that wasn't the case - instead claiming he wasn't speaking to Jones at all.
"Phil was talking about whether decisions were offside or not," Woodward said.
"There was a foul and I turned around and spke to Rebecca Britain, our club secretary, who was two along from Phil.
"I said: 'Was that a yellow card on him? Diop?'
"I didn't say 'Stop'! Three and a half million people viewed it thinking I'd said that."
Woodward is a divisive figure among United fans, with many choosimg to blame him for the club's malaise in the years since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement.
Since Fergie lost his job, United have gone through three permanent managers.
David Moyes lasted just 10 months at Old Trafford before his head rolled in the wake of the club's failure to qualify for the Champions League in 2014.
Louis van Gaal got longer - two years - but he was axed over the same failings as his predecessor (despite winning the FA Cup.)
Before Solskjaer came in United were ruled by Jose Mourinho but he, too, was sacked.
And Woodward has admitted that he wishes the public perception of him was different, adding: "My mum and my wife would pribably give a different answer to me.
"I don;t think some of the progress we are making is accurately reflected.
"I hope we win the Premier League and they can change the way they are writing about us.
"I don't like it when inaccurate things get repeated which bcomes fact, like me being solely responsible for signing players, or taking every football decision, or commercial being a priority over football.
"These things aren't true.
"I want us to sell more shirts, because that means more money for players."