The manner of Manchester United's internal review has been branded as disrespectful towards head coach Erik ten Hag, a former Old Trafford star has claimed.
And Paul Ince said it was “madness” for the club to hold talks with potential replacements, including ex-Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel, while Ten Hag’s future appeared unclear.
It was confirmed on Tuesday night that United are set to stick with Ten Hag after winning the FA Cup and talks are underway over a new contract.
But Ince thinks the way United allowed a will-they-won’t-they sack Ten Hag narrative to develop over the past three weeks does not paint an impressive picture of the new Ineos regime.
“When it comes to Manchester United's internal review, I think there's a lack of respect for Erik ten Hag, I really do. It's total madness what's going on here,” Ince said, speaking to Bet365.
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“Obviously they've won the FA Cup, which is great, but look at Louis van Gaal winning the FA Cup and getting sacked the next day, they need to wash away from the idea that they need to keep him because he won that.
“The Premier League, that's your bread and butter. The 38 games in the Premier League and where do you finish? They finished eighth, which is nowhere near good enough.
“It hasn't been good enough for a long, long time. Maybe they feel that with Jason Wilcox coming in and Dan Ashworth coming in that things can improve next year.
“Now it looks to me like they're trying to look for other managers to see who are prepared to go to Manchester United, having meetings with Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino, that is a lack of respect, it’s disrespectful for the manager at the football club.”
United had also been linked with Mauricio Pochettino and Roberto de Zerbi, who left Chelsea and Brighton at the end of the season. However, Ince reiterated that displayed a “lack of respect” to Ten Hag.
Paul Ince believes the process has undermined Erik ten Hag (Getty Images)He added: “I'd hate to think that I'm managing a football team and my colleagues are out talking to other managers while you're sitting in the job. Surely there has to be a lack of respect.
“There has to be and I think it's so unfair on Ten Hag I really, really do. In that position you’d just want to know are you keeping me or are you not keeping me? If I'm going to go then let me go because there might be possibilities of me going somewhere else before the season starts.
“But don't kind of play this game where you are calling other managers, Pochettino or Roberto De Zerbi or whoever, before making your decision.
“If they're actually meeting managers and making it publicly known that they're meeting managers, then you have to question if they have 100 per cent faith in Ten Hag, they need to make a decision because it’s been two and a half weeks now and it shows a lack of respect.”
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