A FORMER Manchester United hot prospect was forced into“torturous”; training sessions in a bid to make him quit his club.
But amid the brutal regime, he was driven on by a supportive coach urging him: “Don’t let them break you”;.
Midfielder is the player at the centre of the amazing claims Down Under.
He was at from 2009-2014, featuring alongside future heroes like and earning caps at Under-16 and U-17 level.
Tunnicliffe, now 32, went on to have decent spells with , , and .
But a move to Australian team Adelaide United on a two-year deal in 2023 went less than smoothly.
And Tunnicliffe’s troubles peaked when the club’s technical director Ernest Faber wanted him out – according to 7NEWS Adelaide.
The Australian broadcaster revealed whistleblowingclaims by former assistant Travis Dodd.
The former Adelaide player, 45, suggested that ex-coach Carl Veart was undermined by Faber last season.
Dodd reckoned Faber asked players to pick the team without telling Veart.
And it’s reckoned Tunnicliffe was caught up in the situation.
He only played four minutes last season before departing in May – with Veart also leaving after five years in charge,as well as Dodd.
And it’s alleged Tunnicliffe faced a bizarre regime as he struggled for game time.
7News Adelaide reported that Faber “also forced unwanted import Ryan Tunnicliffe to train on his own, putting him through torturous running sessions in the hope he would quit the club”;.
Dodd told the TV channel: “I said, ‘Mate, don’t let them break you’. He goes, ‘I can do it’.
“And, credit to him, for two weeks he rocked up when he was asked to rock up, did what he was asked to do, and seemingly Ernest (Faber) had had enough after two weeks and let him rejoin the first-team squad.”;
Former Adelaide player Josh Cavallo replied on the 7News Facebook comment section that Veart was “under clear instructions by the people above him (Faber)”; not to pick him.
