I’m so happy at this news, extremely happy. Haven’t stopped smiling since I heard it early this morning.
You see INEOS and Sir Jim what you can do when you start listening to the fans?! Bloody hell lads, don’t take your own time about this decision either. Made me worry about nothing.
Everybody calm down for a second.
Deep breath in,
deep breath out.
Ok, let’s get on with it.
It was reported last night by David Ornstein that Manchester United and INEOS have made the choice to stick with Dutchman Erik ten Hag as manager. He still has one year left on his current deal but in that Athletic article, Ornstein goes on to say that they will “hold negotiations over contract extension” for ten Hag.
This all came after Ornstein himself went on Sky Sports to say that “I’ve given up on predicting what will happen in this situation” and that “I’m not sure Manchester United are certain themselves” in regards to what they’re going to do with the manager or when.
Funny how things can change so quickly.
All this news comes out after the club conducted an end-of-season review in which they were considering several factors as to whether or not Erik ten Hag should remain as MUFC boss. There was news earlier in the week about Sir Jim Ratcliffe meeting up with the now departed Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel in Monaco over him potentially taking over at Old Trafford.
And yet, here we are just days later and the Dutchman remains. Things happen so fast in the football world. Blink, and you’ll miss it.
In David Ornstein’s article, he says that the club “held talks with the 54-year-old (ten Hag) on Tuesday and the preference of both parties was for his tenure to continue.”
As mentioned, United did speak with other managers with the likes of Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino and current England boss Gareth Southgate being mentioned as front-runners to replace ten Hag.
Could you imagine Gareth Southgate as manager of Man Utd? I think I may have needed to take a break from football if that were the case.
Before the FA Cup final, there were already rumours that regardless of the result in that game against Man City, the club will sack the Dutchman.
As it turned out, that wasn’t the case.
I think that was simply because we did the unthinkable and actually (deservedly) beat the all conquering, ‘best side in PL history’ Man City to win our 13th FA Cup.
The celebrations following that triumph displayed a togetherness that we haven’t seen at United for a long time as players, staff, manager and fans were all as one. To decide to sack the manager after that would’ve been a low blow in my opinion.
This probably caused a delay in their decision-making and perhaps led to the voice of reason as keeping ten Hag was for me, the right choice as I do think they would’ve let him go should that final have gone otherwise.
Erik ten Hag has been on holiday since lifting the FA Cup 18 days ago and like us, had appeared to be in the dark about his future. There were also reports that came out that he was aware of the club potentially looking to replace him.
However, now that all has been cleared up about his future, chief transfer guru Fabrizio Romano says that the Dutchman is “happy with INEOS decision” and that there are “no personal issues” despite the review taking as long as the entmoot in the Two Towers.
In fact, Romano has also come out saying that talks between United and ten Hag’s agents “are already underway and advanced” about the Dutchman receiving a contract extension. These are all great signs as I do believe that this manager can take us to where we want to be.
Erik ten Hag was the fans’ choice two years ago when we were looking for a new manager. He remained the choice all throughout the next two years and even post the FA Cup win despite the news of his impending departure.
The talks about how the club wanted to replace him seemed to unite most of the fanbase even further as he was heavily backed by the majority of the supporters.
They listened to us ☺. He has been the manager with the best potential post Sir Alex Ferguson and has done a lot of good inspite of all that he’s had to deal with.
We can also now finally start moving forward with transfers. United need improvements in a lot of positions as well as clearing out a lot of the deadwood.
This decision over the manager stopped United from doing any business due to not knowing who the next man in charge will be.
Erik ten Hag will have no doubt identified the areas that need improvements, the players he’d want to bring in and those he wants to move on.
However, time is ticking as losing these past two weeks means that United and INEOS will have to move quickly in terms of their business.
And finally, this is something new that we’re seeing with the club. In previous seasons, it was the manager who took ALL of the flack and was soon gone. The players were backed and we’ve heard the term ‘player power’ over the years.
Now, we look to be doing something different. INEOS have done this something different and are going against the grain.
I was (and still am, to an extent) skeptical about the new co-owners. However, after this decision, I do BACK them. I hope that they can start making more decisions like these that can get majority of us on their side.
But what do you think about Erik ten Hag STAYING at Man Utd?
Background: Erik ten Hag | Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images via Bavarian Football Works