Gary Neville said Erik ten Hag couldn’t complain about his treatment by Manchester United – before accurately predicting the Dutchman would stay on at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag’s future has been at the centre of a performance review which has taken place since the end of a season that saw United finish just eighth in the Premier League and crash out of the Champions League in the group phase before surprisingly beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final. The result of that review has finally been confirmed, with Ten Hag staying on and set for a contract extension, with his current deal expiring next summer.
Just before Ten Hag’s future was finally resolved, former United defender Neville gave his latest take on the situation in the Overlap Newsletter. The Sky Sports pundit said the situation needed to be resolved one way or the other, writing: “Every day it seems another manager is ruled out of the Manchester United job. The club needs to get this sorted before the Euros and it looks like it’s heading in one direction.
“It isn’t cruel to have kept Erik ten Hag hanging for two weeks whilst Manchester United review the last two years of his work. He must accept that the season he delivered wasn’t good enough in terms of the heavy defeats that United suffered and the lack of cohesion in the team structure, especially when you consider the shots on goal conceded.
“The fact is, he probably would have been gone by now if he had lost the FA Cup final and no one was really anticipating a performance like that, a display on which you could almost hang your hat. But I don’t think he can complain that United have taken their time to consider options.
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“Any Manchester United manager finishing eighth knows that their job is on the line. But we’re coming to a point where, having assessed the market, my hunch is that he will stay and start the season.”
Had they opted to remove Ten Hag, Neville suspects United would have gone for Gareth Southgate rather than the likes of Maurico Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel. He added: “Sir Dave Brailsford, Director of Sport at Ineos, and Dan Ashworth, the incoming Director of Football, are very methodical process-driven people and that is clearly the route they will go.
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“Pochettino and Tuchel are probably more about instinct and using the force of their personality. The fact that they haven’t appointed either of them seems to indicate that United are leaning towards a Gareth Southgate-type manager, who can lead a process-driven culture change at the club.
“But there’s no way that they can hang on waiting for Southgate. I don’t think they will let it go on into the Euros as that will start to look clunky and clumsy.
“The longer this goes on the more people will think Southgate is in the frame and that will turn the heat on him. I don’t actually see Gareth at Manchester United as a fit for him or the club.
“But regardless of that, if they do want him, I don’t think Gareth would risk his reputation, for integrity, by doing anything to jeopardise this Euro 2024 campaign. As such, I don’t think he will be Manchester United’s manager at the start of next season.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Are Man Utd right to stick with Ten Hag? Tell us in the comments section
Erik ten Hag has impressed Sir Jim Ratcliffe enough to keep his job (Getty Images)“For me, it’s inconceivable and impossible that Ten Hag could turn up at pre-season training in early July, run the club for a few weeks, allow England to finish their Euros campaign so that Sir Dave Brailsford then gets the opportunity to talk to Southgate and appoint him sometime in August.
“United need a decision for the new season now. It can’t be made in pre-season. I understand why United have taken a little longer, but with no real candidate emerging, they need now to confirm ten Hag.
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“Even though it looks like they’ve spoken to other people, I suspect everyone can be grown up, shake hands and get on with the job, even though Ten Hag knows he isn’t their No.1 choice.”
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