by IIt was about half an hour after the final whistle at the FA Cup final when I had my exchange with Sir Jim Ratcliffe. He was still sitting in the royal box at Wembley, enjoying the win against Manchester City. And I managed to sneak past security and get close enough to yell at him.
To his credit, he came up to me and shook my hand, even though he didn’t say anything when I begged him, “Don’t fire Ten Hag!”
That was my position at the time and nothing has changed despite the club’s terrible start to the season.
It might have made more sense to do so after the win against Manchester City, but a season review, which also included playing with other potential candidates, ended with Erik ten Hag being confirmed as the man for Ineos. And that should have cleared things up. At least for this season.
After all, Ten Hag makes sense. United have had a succession of unsuitable managers since the resignation of Sir Alex Ferguson. Either they didn’t really “understand” the club (David Moyes/Louis van Gaal), or they were too divided (José Mourinho), or they couldn’t train (Ole), or they were far too honest for their own good ( Ralf Rangnick).
Ten Hags did “Get” the club, Old Trafford accepted him, he can train and he was honest without being brutal. With a squad in the midst of a revamp, he has won two cups in two years and has kept a cool head throughout the extended takeover talks and the arrival of Sir Jim.
Since then, Ineos has begun assembling a staff of football galacticos in the backroom – where once we only had Ed Woodward, a money man who measured success by shirt sales and endorsement deals.
It was this new Brains Trust that supported Ten Hag just three months ago and has now fired him. Like many season ticket holders, I saw some terrible games this semester. I had imagined seeing a few more as the “process” of change continued and we waited for some of our players to come back from injury. It was painful – but it’s better to commit to the long term than to look for even quicker solutions. Instead, Ineos appears to have Woodward in full control due to a dodgy VAR decision that cost us the game against West Ham. Again.
after newsletter advertising
All generals need a bit of luck, and Ten Hag appears to be running out on May 25th. If Ineos had kept him because they really believed in him, they should have supported him during this difficult time – and publicly too. If they had kept him but didn’t really believe in him, they should have had the courage to drop him in the summer. They are either incompetent or cowardly. Or both. Ten Hag deserved better.
