To say it's been a poor season at Manchester United would be an understatement and with the campaign finally nearing its end, another update has emerged on the future of Erik ten Hag.
Erik ten Hag's Man Utd future
Everything seemed on track last season. United finished inside the Premier League's top four and won the Carabao Cup to tick two important boxes in Ten Hag's debut season. Things only looked likely to get better from there, especially after the arrivals of Andre Onana and Rasmus Hojlund. It looked as though those at Old Trafford finally had a manager ready to take them back to the top.
Ten Hag is "crazy" about signing "incredible" £265k-p/w star for Man Utd
He would walk into the Manchester United team this summer.
ByBen BrowningMay 12, 2024
A lot can change in a year, however. Fast forward to the present day and the Red Devils have gone from trophy winners and top four finishers on track for much more to a side who seem to lack a plan and are falling shorter and shorter of expectations every week. The FA Cup final could yet salvage something from their season of course, but the odds will be stacked against them up against rivals and potential Premier League champions Manchester City.
Now, according to Pete O'Rourke of Football Insider less than 24 hours before United's match with Arsenal, Manchester United are set to sack Ten Hag at the end of the season, with a decision made by INEOS. The journalist described the Red Devils' season as a "disaster" on the Inside Track Podcast and now expected United to end Ten Hag's Old Trafford nightmare before Sir Jim Ratcliffe seeks a replacement.
The Dutchman is set to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when it comes to those who have failed since Sir Alex Ferguson, perhaps exposing a greater problem at the club than just one controlled from the dugout.
Man Utd's next manager
It's a somewhat poisoned chalice and has been since the days of Ferguson at United, but it's also a responsibility that could finally have some form of structure behind it with Ratcliffe at the held and Dan Ashworth reportedly arriving in the sporting director role. That said, it's a decision that those at Old Trafford cannot afford to get wrong.
The likes of Gareth Southgate and Graham Potter have been linked with the job, but it remains to be seen what route Ratcliffe chooses to go down. Southgate has impressed as England's manager but has consistently fallen short at the last hurdle, despite taking charge of arguably England's latest golden generation.
Potter, meanwhile, just reportedly rejected Ajax and has been out of a job since failing at Chelsea in a disastrous spell. Given that his last spell in charge at a top-six club ended so badly, there would certainly be plenty of eyebrows raised if Potter became the man handed the responsibility of guiding the current United squad through the current chaos.