Louis van Gaal has claimed that Manchester United's decision to replace him with Jose Mourinho was about finance rather than football.
The Dutchman has broken his silence on the way he was ruthlessly sacked by United in May 2016, less than 24 hours after winning the FA Cup at Wembley.
Van Gaal, who has compared his dismissal to a public execution, reckons that the only thing the men who run the Old Trafford care about is money.
And he has revealed that Woodward confessed to him that the decision to appoint Mourinho was commercially motivated.
Van Gaal said: “Manchester United had record (financial) figures in the two years that I was there.
“And don't underestimate what that means for United. Nothing as important as the figures for United.
“Look, every big club needs a good organization. The people in charge can run the club in football way or in a commercial way.
“At Manchester United the balance has tipped well over to the commercial side.
“Were they unhappy about the results or the performances of the team under my management?
“No. But all of a sudden they could get Mourinho for the long term, a manager with a massive commercial value in the world.
“Woodward finally said this exactly so to me the day after the FA Cup Final.”
Van Gaal remains bitter about the way he was hung out to dry after leading the Reds to Wembley glory.
He added: “United put my head in a noose and I was publicly placed on the gallows.
“The pressure was enormous with my head in the noose and then they went right behind my back.
“I think it was all orchestrated like a film and it was done very much behind my back right from January.
“My wife, Truus, told me that the attitude of the board had changed. Women have this intuition. They smell it.
“I denied it, even to my wife, because between me as a manager and the chief executive Ed Woodward, everything was running as normal.”
Van Gaal began feeling undermined when United legends like Gary Neville and Paul Scholes criticised his style of football.
But the Dutchman felt safe because Woodward had handed him a three-year contract when he quit his post as Holland's manager to take up United's offer to succeed David Moyes because he had only wanted a 24-month deal.
He describes the way United launched their charm offensive to land Mourinho as the biggest humiliation of his career.
Van Gaal said: “Suddenly former players started to yap in the media that we were playing boring football and Mourinho's sacking made it very attractive for everyone to keep bashing me.
“I do understand that choice of United to get Mourinho.
“I never wanted more than two years anyway. Man United wanted three years.
“Suddenly, Mourinho was out after one-and-a-half years of my contract and I knew United wanted him one day.
“They told me only after it was leaked out and it was the biggest disappointment of my life.
“United did not discuss this with me. If they had come to me with the Mourinho plan then I could have said 'okay, let's give it everything for the last six months, complete commitment to each other and the team and then Jose Mourinho can take over.'
“They could have saved the last year of my salary by doing that but after what happened I made them pay every penny.”
In a newspaper interview in Holland, Van Gaal admits that he should have taken up an offer from Tottenham in the summer of 2014 instead of going to Manchester.
And he insists that players like £60million Angel di Maria were bought without his full acquiescence.
Van Gaal said: “At Spurs I would not have to clear out and rebuild.
“What gives me satisfaction is that I won a trophy in every country where I have worked.
“United was, in my opinion, a No 1 club and I was used to working only for the No 1 clubs in every country.
“Those challenges are the biggest and the ones I like.
“But I felt uneasy with the club signing Di Maria for €80million.
“I would never spend that amount of of money on a player.
“Look, the system is rotten. Lets get that clear. Football has lost its values, but a manager cannot change that..”
Van Gaal resisted the temptation to challenge Mourinho about the way he was lined up by United behind his back.
The pair, who were close friend for years, met a UEFA seminar for coaches last week.
Van Gaal said: “The UEFA elite seminar is not the stage to have a fight. I kept my dignity and he kept his.
“Football is a murky world. I have been in it now for 46 years. As an individual I cannot change it.
“I still maintain that Man United was my last job in club football – and I have had no end of offers.
“The only country of the big football nations where I have never worked, is Italy.
“Well, let me tell you, the Italian clubs have offered me jobs in massive numbers.
“But I like Italy as a holiday place, not as a football country. As a football nation it is less pretty.”