And that’s the lot for today. Thank you for reading. Goodbye. Here’s our coverage on the dismissal of Erik ten Hag thus far: Alejandro Garnacho has taken to Instagram: “Thank you for everything, boss,” writes the Argentinian. “I will always be grateful to you for giving me the opportunity and the confidence to play for this club. “It hasn’t gone as well as we wanted, but I will remember the good times we had together and I wish you all the best in the future. “Thank you very much Erik ❤️” “As a non-United fan, I’m naturally enjoying the latest managerial shenanigans,” emails Richard Morris. “But I can’t help wondering - what next for ETH? In many ways the best thing for United would be if he quickly ends in a job and achieves instant success - not just because he’s by all accounts a very nice bloke, but because then, and perhaps only then, the management at Manchester United will begin to ask themselves - “Maybe it’s not the manager. Maybe, just maybe, it’s us …” Anyway, back to the entertainment.” Self-awareness from the Manchester United top brass, Richard? I’ve heard it all now. Mary Waltz is right. Manchester United clearly need proper a long-term rebuild, involving patience, a clear strategy, sensible and strategic investment in new players, and in the development of players in the club’s academy. But football’s content machine requires constant feeding, so the new manager will no doubt be teetering on the brink after a few dodgy results. Hot off the press, a co-written news bulletin from Jamie Jackson and Will Unwin: “Thomas Frank has emerged as an early favourite to succeed Erik ten Hag as the Manchester United manager after the Dutchman was sacked on Monday. “Brentford’s No 1 was previously considered as a potential replacement for Ten Hag towards the end of last season when he was under threat then, Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos-led football department having interviewed several candidates.” “As a fan, Van Nistelrooy would be fun but maybe a bit too much like Ole,” emails Paul Simpson. “So it would seem to me a few qualities that should be looked for in a new manager. Experience with a big club - check, good record in minor European competitions - check, able to install a bit of order to a chaotic defence - check, able to steady a club too good to go down - check, not afraid to go back to an unfinished job - check, from the same mould as Lord Ferg - check. The call needs to go out to Moyesie.” David Moyes. Interesting shout. You say you’re a fan, Paul, but of which club? “Another United defenestration,” emails Mary Waltz. “No surprise. Will it work? Only if United fans and administration realise that, for the time being, they are a mid-table squad and that it will take time to strip it down to the studs and rebuild. No more short-term solutions, a focused long term plan that will take time to achieve.” There were plenty of times over the past 14 months when sacking Erik ten Hag would have been justified but Manchester United clung on in the hope he could somehow turn things around. Patience and excuses finally ran out at Old Trafford after another dismal defeat at West Ham on Sunday, leaving them 14th in the Premier League and increasingly fearful of another season outside the Champions League. “I’ve supported Manchester United since I was six – almost 80 years now,” writes Gordon McDougall. “When I worked for Granada TV the team used to drink in the same pubs, and George Best ran the local disco. I’ve never known the players in such bad shape – even while in Division Two. There are really fine players in the team: the problem is belief. And lack of belief breeds fear. “So Dalot, who is almost always on target, shoots over the bar from a few yards in front of an open goal. Rashford makes great runs and shoots straight at the keeper. There is a lack of inventiveness and a total absence of the one-touch football Ferguson developed. Maybe Ruud can restore the belief as Ole did for a while. But the best result would be Guardiola, who will be free next year. I hope to live to see it ...” Thanks for your email, Gordon. “You always feel for guys that lose their job,” says Brentford’s Thomas Frank, reacting to Ten Hag’s dismissal. “I’m pretty sure Erik can look at himself and say he gave everything. It’s life, it happens. “I’ve got a big responsibility to Brentford,” says Frank, asked about his future. “I have one focus, that is to beat Sheffield Wednesday tomorrow. I’ve said many times, I am very happy here, I think it’s one of the best clubs in the world, but I am very, very happy here. “I can see myself being here for a long, long time … maybe if something comes up in the future, let’s see, but for now I am very happy here.” Flattered to be linked. “Listening to the game at the London Stadium yesterday I was reminded of Graham Taylor’s time with England,” emails David Wall. “Although ultimately it was the long-term underperformance of the team under Taylor that cost him his job, the final straw was a loss that was largely due to inept referring. Ditto Ten Hag (he can blame the profligate forwards for the fact they didn’t win, but it’s down to the VAR that they lost rather than drawing). Is managing Manchester United now also an impossible job? “Also, now that Ten Haag has been sacked, who does Howard Webb address his email to when he sends out the next list of PGMOL apologies for refereeing mistakes? Perhaps he could still send it to Ten Hag, it might give him a little bit of comfort while he thinks about what to do now.” “I suppose you could call this a Ruud awakening for Man United fans,” writes Peter Oh. That’s your lot for today, Peter. “In terms of who they can get, and Premier League experience, I think maybe Thomas Frank,” Jamie Jackson says of a potential successor for Ten Hag. “[Or] Rúben Amorim at Sporting Lisbon … Xavi has been mentioned, but would he be what they need right now? Would he hit the ground running? Ruud Van Nistelrooy only has one season at PSV on his CV.” The Guardian’s Jamie Jackson is on Sky Sports News now and says that apart from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford, the current squad “are not good enough” for Manchester United. He says Ten Hag is a “very likeable man” with “a twinkle in his eye” but that he had doubts about his ability to inspire the players, that he was “a bit wooden”. “Ineos have not handled it great,” he says. “It’s an ongoing mess at Manchester United since Sir Alex Ferguson left … maybe when their get their man in now we’ll see a brave new world. But it feels a little bit like groundhog day.” “Unai Emery – if you look at the job he’s done at Aston Villa – he’s come in there and turned them around. That’s a proper job that a proper manager has done. He’s made players that he inherited better, and look where they are now.” Reuters have done a “Factbox” on Ten Hag. Here it is, unredacted: Born 2 February 1970, in Haaksbergen, Netherlands. Playing career Ten Hag began his career at Dutch side FC Twente, where he played primarily as a defender from 1989-1990. Stints at Utrecht, De Graafschap and RKC Waalwijk before returning to Twente in 1996, where he finished his playing career in 2002. Ten Hag made over 300 league appearances in Dutch professional football. Coaching career Ten Hag started coaching in 2012 with Go Ahead Eagles, leading the team to promotion after 17 years outside the Eredivisie in his first season in charge. Joined Bayern Munich II in 2013, taking charge of their reserve team and working under the guidance of Pep Guardiola during the Spaniard’s time as Bayern head coach. Ten Hag returned to the Netherlands to manage FC Utrecht in 2015, guiding them to a fifth-place finish and a spot in the Europa League through the playoffs. Appointed Ajax manager in 2017. During his tenure, the club won three Eredivisie titles (2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22) and two KNVB Cups (2018-2019 and 2020-2021). Ten Hag gained widespread acclaim after guiding Ajax to the 2018-19 Champions League semi-finals, the club’s first appearance at that stage since 1997, and beating defending champions Real Madrid 4-1 and Juventus 2-1 along the way. Ten Hag left Ajax after leading them to the 2022 KNVB Cup final in April On April 21 that year Ten Hag was appointed Manchester United manager on a three-year contract. In his first season in charge he led United to a third-placed Premier League finish and League Cup triumph, ending the club’s six-year trophy drought since a Europa League success in 2017 under Jose Mourinho. In the 2023-24 season United finished eighth in the league and won the FA Cup by beating Guardiola’s Manchester City 2-1. Ten Hag’s United tenure ended on 28 October after a series of inconsistent performances left United languishing in 14th place in the Premier League with 11 points (W3 D2 L4) and without a win in their three Europa league games which they drew. The Dutchman’s last match in charge was a 2-1 defeat at West Ham United following earlier losses to Brighton & Hove Albion, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. You can email me with your hot takes. Why is none of the reaction [that I have seen] on a well-known sports news channel mentioning the Glazers? Seems like a rather glaring omission. I sense there’s been a bit of a recurring theme since the Glazers took over and Lord Ferguson departed. Thanks John. I’ve not been this excited to take a live blog since Liverpool signed Ozan Kabak. Hello everyone. And with that, I hand over to Luke McLaughlin. Ben Lake: “Before I tell everyone why all this has gone wrong and it is easy, I’d just like to point out that Tan Hag’s most successful signing is probably the free transfer of aging, creaky old Jonny Evans. Kind of tells its own story, doesn’t it? “Now, Ten Hag. I genuinely don’t think he is very good, certainly not for this level. Utd’ board are probs right to fire him. However, the way they have managed this situation is absurd.” Jason Geer: “I, for one, hope Ten Hag sits out until 2026 and, like Graham Potter, collects all the compensation owed him under his contract. “What a ridiculous decision by Ineos just 3 months after giving him a contract extension, costing the club and its shareholders tens of millions of pounds. Never mind the results - United will end up between 6th and 10th no matter who manages this group of content generators. And, the club is now operating down one coach by firing Ten Hag and appointing van Nistelrooy as interim. Well done Ineos!!” A name often mentioned, because it is said he would work well within Manchester United’s Ineos-led structure. Southgate to follow Van Nistelrooy’s caretakership? I need to give myself time to make good decisions. When you come out of a really big role you need to give your body time, you need to give your mind time. “I’m enjoying my life, so there’s no rush. I’m fortunate that there are lots of opportunities presenting themselves. From United We Stand editor Andy Mitten: After choosing not to sack Ten Hag, the Manchester United hierarchy signed the following players. One hasn’t kicked a ball in anger, the rest yet to show much. Ouch. Leny Yoro, Lille £55m Manuel Ugarte, Paris St-Germain £45m Matthijs De Ligt, Bayern Munich £40m Joshua Zirkzee, Bologna £37m Noussair Mazraoui, Bayern Munich £12m According to the BBC’s Simon Stone: “Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth delivered the bad news to Erik ten Hag at the club’s Carrington training ground this morning.” Stephen Carr gets in touch: “Afternoon John. Rio Ferdinand’s comments about Man U players being there for “one, two, three managers now and it’s still the same results” is odd to say the least. This was categorically Ten Haag’s team and the simple fact is that the more of his team United became, the worse they got.” Looks like Ten Hag didn’t want to be seen leaving his Cheshire home. Thomas Frank would be a fine choice for Manchester United. And he’s been asked about the job while preparing for Brentford’s match with Sheffield Wednesday. He didn’t exactly close the door. Of course, I feel for Erik. He is a great coach and has a great career. He did a good job at Man United, two trophies in two years. It’s a non-stop developing world and that is more than acceptable. At these big clubs, there are massive expectations but there has to be a reality check... You feel for guys who lose their jobs and I’m sure Erik gave everything. There are better people to judge that (improvement). He had a very good first season and had more than a few injury problems.” I’ve got a big responsibility to Brentford Football Club, the fans, the leadership, players and staff. One focus, to beat Sheffield Wednesday in the Carabao Cup. I’m very happy here, one of the best clubs in the world. What happens in the future who knows, but I am very happy here. Video explainer Here’s our video explainer for the fall of Erik ten Hag from Jamie Jackson. Rick Harris has nailed it: “Can’t say I am surprised by Erik Ten Hag’s sacking as the United season hasn’t gone upwards from the pinnacle of the FA Cup Final humbling of Manchester City in May and there was no discernible structure or style to their play. “So that you can say ‘you read it here first’, John, I think you need to state the obvious appointment next summer after Van Nistelrooy gets United through another written-off season. “Pep Guardiola – just look at the evidence. He is out of contract at the end of the season. The director of football has left. The ex-MD has moved across town. He’s won everything at City but knows it was tainted so will never really be respected in most fan’s eyes. “What could be more incredible than Guardiola taking United back to the top of English and European football?” Adam Edwards gets in touch: “Bit telling that so far the players posting on social media have been “thanks gaffer, see ya later!” about it all, and not the “we’re gutted, sorry for the part we’ve played in awful performances for 18 months” levels of introspection you might hope for to maintain some semblance of a squad united behind the manager. He’s evidently been a dead man walking for a while. Good luck Ruud!” Also elsewhere in football. Interesting news here. United sack manager, mark II. Interesting tweet from David de Gea. This is stat is especially damning. The way we were: it was all going so well. The highlight of your Monday has arrived. Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Dan Bardell and Troy Townsend to discuss a fun game at the Emirates. Elsewhere, Manchester United lost at West Ham thanks to a very late and somewhat dubious VAR decision. The podcast had (of course) finished recording when the news of Erik ten Hag’s sacking came through. Expect more on that on Tuesday’s pod. Plus: Crystal Palace get their first win of the season thanks to Spurs, Chris Wood keeps scoring for Nottingham Forest and the pod wrap up the rest of the Premier League action. Time for me to hand this blog back to John. Thanks for joining me! Some more reaction from you all! Patrick with some perspective: I’ve been a backer of EtH all the way. He seems like a clever, capable manager and I was sure that the clouds would clear, the team would click and United would be at the forefront of European football again, with a sophisticated modern approach. We waited, and waited, and tried to make sense of why it still seemed so chaotic, and waited some more. Personally I was OK with erring on the side of patience, but, at a certain point, someone has to call it and say it’s not working. I know plenty of people here would have called that moment a long time ago, but I’m on board with the new hierarchy and their decision-making process. And football is weird: Barcelona, not a terrible comparison, were looking all over the place not so long ago. Lewandowski, Raphinha – total disasters, what were they thinking spending all that money on Olmo while losing Gundogan, they are clearly out of their minds … Fast forward just a couple of months and it’s completely different – they look like a confident, competent club again, at least for the moment. So, here’s hoping. I wish EtH all the best at his next club. Krishna with the exclusive of how it will go down in the coming year: I am reminded of a story that is well known in corporate circles. It goes like this – suitably altered to the football world. Rudd: Any advice Eric? EtH: Here, keep these 3 envelopes. Open them whenever you are faced with a crisis that looks insurmountable. Weeks pass by and Rudd faces his first crisis. Opens the first envelope. “Blame me.” Rudd puts the blame on his predecessor in an articulate way and gets away. Months roll by and he encounters his second crisis. Time for the second envelope. “Blame the schedule and VAR.” Rudd escapes again and things settle down. Not unsurprisingly the third crisis blows up in his face. Rudd opens the third envelope. “Make 3 envelopes.” Rúben Amorim has been speaking to the media ahead of Sporting’s match against C.D. Nacional in the Portuguese League Cup. Lucky for us (and unlucky for him) the timing could not have worked better. The Portugese was obviously asked about the Manchester United role. I was already expecting this question and obviously, I’m not going to talk about the future, because otherwise, I’ll always have to comment. I’m very proud to be Sporting coach, that’s all. Amorim has been at Sporting since 2020 but he has been linked with several Premier League moves. Let’s look in depth at the (realistic) options the Manchester United board could bring in. 1. Kieran McKenna previously worked for Manchester United’s academy. He progressed to the first-team setup under Ole Gunnar Solskjær but then made the move to Ipswich. He committed to the Tractor Boys this summer despite reported interest from United and Chelsea by signing a new four-year deal this summer. Ipswich have yet to win a Premier League match this season in their return to the top-flight. 2. Peter Bosz could be an option if the board are not afraid to go Dutch again. He won the Eredivisie title with PSV last season and the Dutch champions are flying once again despite Bosz losing a number of players to clubs in Europe’s top five leagues. 3. Dino Toppmöller has proven he can change a team’s style to fit his tactics with Eintracht Frankfurt this season. The German side have won four of their opening five league games and the attacking duo of Omar Marmoush and Hugo Ekitike are lighting up the Bundesliga. Could he be the one to unlock Manchester United’s struggling frontline? 4. Xavi left Barcelona in May last year after a confusing roundabout with the board. Many felt he was underqualified when he arrived in Catalonia but he won the club a league title, going head to head with Real Madrid and has been known to give youngsters a chance. His wife also posted an Instagram story of his son donning a United top which is now making the rounds on Reddit. Make of that what you will. Our fantastic picture desk has put together a gallery showing the timeline of Ten Hag’s tenure at Old Trafford. Highlights: winning the Carabao Cup and FA Cup. Lowlights: Manchester City 6-3 Manchester United, Liverpool 7-0 Manchester United and – the final dagger – West Ham 2-1 Manchester United. Rasmus Hojlund has joined Fernandes in bidding farewell to Ten Hag, posting on his Instagram story: “Thanks for everything boss. Wish u all the best in the future.” Van Nistelrooy will not be speaking to the media before Manchester United’s match with Leicester in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, according to reports. This is now Yara taking over the blog to bring all the latest news and reaction to Ten Hag’s sacking. Nigel Moore gets in touch: “I think Ineos has escaped a lot of the criticism that has otherwise been flung at ETH and some players. The big question that I’ve rarely seen posed is do they have the nous to run a football club? Their other sports businesses aren’t a great success either. Big Jim has rode on a crest of goodwill as a local lad made good and a lifelong Utd fan but that doesn’t make you necessarily fit to run a football club, esp one with such baggage as the outfit in Manchester 16!” Alan Gomes gets in touch: “I realise the comment by Mr. Ashdown (13:24) is mostly in jest. But some of the names he puts forward are probably better than those with the top odds to replace Erik ten Hag. “Sérgio Conceição, Edin Terzić, Sebastian Hoeneß, Michel: all of these have achieved excellent results by playing pragmatic football with squads assembled with relatively limited resources. “I believe that is exactly what United need now: a competent caretaker who can find a way to make the pieces fit. Not another “system” manager who will demand millions be spent to bring in “his” players. “The most likely outcome of United’s manager search will probably be “stay the course” (Van Nistelrooy) or “big name hire”. But they’d do well to look at Mr. Ashdown’s suggestions.” Reminder that Manchester United play on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup against Leicester. Some more Rio Ferdinand, too: Some of these players have been here for one, two, three managers now and it’s still the same results where they haven’t been performing, haven’t been consistent enough and haven’t challenged for anything of any sort, especially the Premier League. Someone’s got to come in and change that now, change the whole dynamic of this squad, and it’s going to be difficult because these guys are in a rut. These guys are in a position where they’re used to falling short. They’re used to not being able to compete with the best teams. How do you go about changing that culture? This is down to Ruud right now. He’s the interim manager, he’s got to change that culture. More Gary Neville, via Sky: “After that defeat by Tottenham, Manchester United would have chosen the next big moment, or bad loss, to make that decision. I think they would have started the process then. “I think the lack of identity and style is something that has been a mystery for two-and-a-half seasons. The recruitment has not been the best, awful at times. Yesterday I was shocked to see Casemiro starting and Manuel Ugarte, who is supposed to be replacing him, on the bench. “If I was the club owner looking at that, I would be asking questions. A lack of style with the players has been big and Erik ten Hag has not been able to get a consistent performance out of them, and a lot of them are his players.” John Ashdown – not our John Ashdown – had this to say: “I can only add some other possible/outlandish/funny possibilities Edin Terzic Sergio Conceicao Xavi Sebastian Hoeness Michel Julian Nagelsmann Frank Lampard (lol) Jurgen Klopp (lololol) Jose Mourinho (lolololol) Some of these and some of the ones on your list are unemployed and may well be willing to take the job. But I do think Van Nistelrooy is the most likely choice. Hard as it might be for Man Utd fans to realize, this is not the greatest job in football any more. Huge expectations, no Champions League football, a very expensive but poorly constructed squad. United may have trouble attracting the kind of manager they need. Van Nistelrooy might have to steer the barge until the end of the season.” 21 Ten Hag signings Those 21 Ten Hag signings, and ratings Manuel Ugarte, PSG, 29.08.2024 €50.00m – N/A – oddly dropped Matthijs de Ligt, Bayern Munich, 12.08.2024, €45.00m – bust, must do better Noussair Mazraoui, Bayern Munich, 12.08.2024,€15.00m – no improvement Leny Yoro, Lille, 17.07.2024 €62.00m – injured – N/A Joshua Zirkzee, Bologna, 13.07.2024. €42.50m – good start, poor since Sergio Reguilón, Tottenham, 31.08.2023, loan – bust, forgotten Sofyan Amrabat, Fiorentina, 31.08.2023, loan – bad start, got better, not good enough Altay Bayindir, Fenerbahce, 31.08.2023, €5.00m – barely seen Rasmus Højlund, Atalanta, 04.08.2023, €73.90m – fitness problems, has talent seen all too rarely André Onana, Inter 19.07.2023, €50.20m – can be bad, can be spectacular Jonny Evans, Leicester, 17.07.2023, free transfer – not let anyone down Mason Mount, Chelsea, 04.07.2023, €64.20m – who? Marcel Sabitzer, Bayern Munich, 30.01.2023. loan – was OK, why not kept on? Wout Weghorst, Burnley, 12.01.2023, loan – cult hero, not very good Jack Butland, Crystal Palace, 05.01.2023, loan – N/A Martin Dúbravka, Newcastle, 31.08.2022. loan – N/A Antony, Ajax, 31.08.2022. €95.00m – bust of all busts Casemiro, Real Madrid, 21.08.2022, €70.65m – great first season, poor since Lisandro Martínez, Ajax, 26.07.2022, €57.37m – good player, poor fitness Christian Eriksen, Brentford, 14.07.2022, free transfer – good player, too old Tyrell Malacia, Feyenoord, 04.07.2022, €15.00m – a forgotten man Bruno Fernandes, the team’s captain, has bade farewell on Instagram. “Thanks for everything boss! I appreciate the trust and the moments we share together, I wish you all the best in the future. Even knowing the last period isn’t been great from all of us I hope you fans can keep with you the good things the manager as done for our club!” Odds on the next manager, via Oddschecker: Ruud van Nistelrooy 7/2 Ruben Amorim 7/2 Gareth Southgate 8/1 Thomas Frank 8/1 Kieran McKenna 14/1 Michael Carrick 14/1 Graham Potter 16/1 Max Allegri 20/1 Zinedine Zidane 25/1 Simone Inzaghi 25/1 The Gary Neville viewpoint is here, via Sky Sports: The big shock for me is how bad they’ve been with the new signings that have come in. I felt as though they would have enough to be able to get a decent level of performance together after a smoother transfer window, and that Erik ten Hag would get a level of stability. The fact that they are 14th is unacceptable. You can’t be in 14th after nine or 10 games with the level of spend that’s occurred without being under significant pressure - and that’s what’s happened. I was hoping it would end differently. I think Manchester United fans were hoping that the manager would continue to keep his job and the faith shown in him in the summer would pay off. But it’s not been the case. Some Ten Hag data via PA Media: With 70 wins from 128 games in charge, Ten Hag’s 54.7 per cent win record is actually the second-best of any United manager since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement - behind only Jose Mourinho’s 58.3 per cent. The Dutchman lost 27.3 per cent of his games though, ahead of only David Moyes (29.4 per cent) and a spell as interim boss for Ralf Rangnick (27.6), as his side struggled to turn defeats into draws - just 23 games, or 18 per cent, ended all square. Ten Hag’s side conceded 165 goals in his time in charge, with their average of 1.29 per game topping even the figure in a lost half-season under Rangnick (37 in 29 games, 1.28 per game). Mourinho (0.84) and Louis van Gaal (0.95) kept their goals against average below one per match, with Moyes at 1.06 and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 1.09. Overall United had conceded almost exactly a goal a game between Ferguson’s retirement and Ten Hag’s appointment, 499 in 502 games. They have conceded four or more in a game seven times under Ten Hag, losing 6-3 and 7-0 to bitter rivals Manchester City and Liverpool respectively in his first season while in his second they let in three or more goals on more occasions (15) than they kept clean sheets (13). Ten Hag is only the second post-Ferguson manager with multiple trophies to his name, adding last season’s FA Cup to the 2022-23 Carabao Cup. Karen Asad gets in touch: “FA Cup win last season, as sweet a memory as it was, masked the obvious flaws of ETH team. This season he had the players and no difference; because serious teams don’t take shelter in these kinds of excuses. “A lot of questionable transfer decisions will leave United to count the costs for the foreseeable future. I think ETH wasn’t ambitious enough. He invested more than anybody but act like he’s been tasked with delivering cup glory to a medium-sized club. We assumed he’ll be in the same league as Pep & Klopp but he really wasn’t.” Here is Ruud himself: Nicholas Ridgman gets in touch: “Of all the post-Fergie management faragos, this is the hardest to understand. “To finish third, 14pts of the top, with a trophy, in his first season, was a pretty impressive achievement. This was largely with a squad he inherited. Then the more of his preferred players came in, the more incomprehensible the tactics became. “What’s also odd is the general togetherness of the squad seems fine. None of the poor body language / dressing-room leaks we saw in other managers’ endgames. How did he seemingly manage to keep this unity while utterly tanking the team’s fortunes?” Rio Ferdinand, a backer of Ole Gunnar Solskjær you may recall, has his man already. OK, here’s the first runner and rider to shake off the list. Not sure he’d be a popular candidate. All eyes on Sir Jim Ratcliffe. The big decision is made, now for an even bigger decision. Though was it Big Sir Jim’s call? Should Ten Hag have been sacked despite this famous victory? Hindsight suggests it absolutely should have done. At Wembley that day: Asked if he thinks he’s been treated unfairly by the media, Ten Hag said to Gary Lineker: “I think so, the team as well. It was not right.” Alan Shearer interjected to say that United have rarely been as good as they were today and often deserved whatever criticism came their way. “You are right but we didn’t have the players,” came the riposte. “It was not always good football, definitely not, but if you don’t have the players you can’t play the football you want to play.” Was it his last game in charge of United? “I don’t know,” he said. “The only thing I am doing is training my team, preparing my team, developing my team because this is for me a project. When I came in, I can say it was a mess and we are now better but we are by far not where we want to be.” The United brains trust kept him on, and spent even more money. A fateful decision. Complaints made in vain after that defeat at West Ham. It probably wasn’t a penalty but then again, Ten Hag was not much of a Manchester United manager. It seems quite a while already since the “bald is best” campaign. Will Unwin has the story so far. Club statement Here’s that official club statement: short but sweet. Seen shorter. Erik ten Hag has left his role as Manchester United men’s first-team manager. Erik was appointed in April 2022 and led the club to two domestic trophies, winning the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024. We are grateful to Erik for everything he has done during his time with us and wish him well for the future. Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge of the team as interim head coach, supported by the current coaching team, whilst a permanent head coach is recruited. Preamble Well, it wasn’t a shock, was it? It had been coming. Even if VAR delivered the felling blow at West Ham, Ten Hag has been on a sticky wicket from the start of the season. He departs as a League Cup winner, an FA Cup winner but he becomes the sixth manager since Sir Alex Ferguson, if you include Ralf Rangnick. What next? Ruud van Nistelrooy is the caretaker, and has looked likely to fulfil that role since he arrived in the summer as assistant coach. The Ineos regime has taken down its first manager, to follow the many staff who have departed the club. Right, a day ahead of reaction and further news. Join us.