Erik ten Hag stays because he isn’t the problem, says Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has finally revealed the reason why the INEOS sporting ownership of Man United decided to keep Erik ten Hag at the club.
Speaking to Bloomberg, the INEOS chairman and CEO had this to say on the matter of the Dutchman:
“The coach isn’t the central issue at Manchester United.
“It’s a sports club. It needs to be competitive, it needs a degree of intensity, but with a supportive side to it because you are dealing with players who are relatively young. It hasn’t had that type of environment historically.”
Sir Jim Ratcliffe speaking to Bloomberg about Ten Hag, as quoted by Mirror
Ahead of the FA Cup final, with Man United having registered their lowest Premier League finish in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, reports had started to emerge stating that INEOS had decided to sack Ten Hag regardless of what happened in the final against Man City.
After United remarkably beat City in the final to lift their second trophy under Ten Hag in just as many seasons, however, INEOS said they would carry out a whole-season evaluation before deciding on Ten Hag and, after weeks of deliberation, decided to stick with him.
Now entering the final year of his contract at Old Trafford, Ten Hag is reportedly in talks with the club over a new contract.
An interesting approach
Sir Jim is not entirely wrong; United have bigger problems to look after than their manager right now.
Until they sort their sporting director situation, no long-term decision can be made in terms of a managerial change, and if Ten Hag doesn’t work out next season, they can sack him in the middle of it anyway and then implement a short-term solution instead of doing so right now.
Make no mistake, though: next season is very much another transition campaign for United. Keeping Ten Hag on board just offers them some semblance of continuity.
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That said, he should not be given a new contract either. If INEOS are serious about learning from past mistakes, they should keep Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s contract extension in mind.
