Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has given a big hint that Erik ten Hag’s job at Old Trafford may not be completely safe.
On Tuesday night, United confirmed via a public statement that Ratcliffe had completed his 25% partial investment into the club.
He can now officially begin work at Old Trafford.
Ratcliffe spoke to the media about his future plans for the Red Devils. He also opened up on the future of Ten Hag, who has overseen a very inconsistent season at the helm.
United currently sit in sixth position, five points below Aston Villa who are in fourth. While United are currently enjoying a good patch of form and have won their last four consecutive Premier League matches, the early stages of the campaign were horrific.
The 20-time English champions were dumped out of the Carabao Cup, the Champions League and Europe altogether.
Even at the moment while United are winning, performances are still unconvincing. Ten Hag has come under pressure as a result of the poor displays.
Many have speculated that with a new football structure coming into place under Ratcliffe, there could be a scenario in which Ten Hag is relieved of his duties to let the club start on a clean slate.
Ratcliffe spoke about this and said that since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, conditions have simply not been ideal for managers to succeed at Old Trafford.
When asked about Ten Hag’s future, Ratcliffe said, “I’m not going to comment on the job he’s done because that would be inappropriate. What is relevant to that question is that, if you look at the 11 years that have gone since David Gill and Sir Alex stepped down, there has been a whole series of coaches.”
“Some of them were very good but none of them has been successful or survived for very long. You can’t blame all the coaches. The only conclusion is that the environment in which they were working didn’t work.”
“Erik’s been in that environment and what we have to do is make sure that environment, the organisation, the people in the structure, are right. We have to do that bit, so I’m not really focused on the coach but on getting that bit right. It’s not for me to judge that.”
The British businessman added, “But we’ve made some quite difficult decisions in our time in business. We’ll just be logical about it, assess the facts and make a fair judgement. We’re not a brutal organisation really. But sometimes you do have to make decisions, that may not be popular.”
United return to action on Saturday when they host Fulham at the Theatre of Dreams.
