If it makes you feel better I think it's far from a certainty too, primarily because Utd will know it won't go down well with supporters but at the same time it wouldn't shock me if it happens. In all walks of life people appoint people they know, like and trust and reportedly there's a very close connection between Southgate and both Ashworth and Brailsford.
We've just seen it with Liverpool appointing Richard Hughes as Sporting Director - he had a very close working relationship with Michael Edwards (who's just returned to the club/FSG in a senior role), who in turn was appointed by Comolli following their previous relationship at Spurs. It's no different than Ratcliffe bringing Brailsford along and him wanting to bring in Ashworth.
As I said, I think it's very likely that ETH will be gone sooner rather than later - he's generally done a pretty poor job and Ashworth, Brailsford and co will have their own plans and ideas, and will likely want their own man to implement them.
