I know there’s a lot of disagreement in here over should he stay or should he go….but I think, regardless of your position, everyone here is taking their position not based on some weird tribalism, but on their belief about what is best for the club.
I respect anyone that feels strongly about him being given more time. If he is given more time, then I will only be supporting him and hoping he succeeds. Because that is what is best for the club. I would take no joy in being proven right that he should go. So I hope if he stays, all those - myself included - that strongly believe he has to go, will be supportive and give him another chance. And likewise, if he does go, I hope all those that wanted him to stay won’t hold it against the new manager. We are always better off if we are United.
Obviously, I’ve articulated on here - many times - not only that he should go, but also why, and I’ve never received a convincing counter argument from anyone. Normally just an emotional, and occasionally vitriolic one. This rift is only exacerbated by the victory today, which has given increased fervour to his supporters, and led to a number of knee-jerk and emotional u-turns. Which is about the worst basis to make any intelligent decision. So I am glad that the decision will be made by people who have a lot more knowledge and expertise about what goes on behind the scenes, than any of us. And hopefully, like most decisions we’ve seen from SJR and co to date, it’ll be a decision taken in the cold light of day, absorbing all the facts, variables, and data. Whichever way it goes, there will be those in opposition to it, feeling disaffected and pissed off. But I hope we’ll be able to put that behind us as a collective, and provide great support to the team. Wishful thinking, I know.
In all likelihood, I think the decision to move him on has already been taken, and over the coming days it’ll be made official. I hope, given the historically bad season and shocking performance levels, that is the case, and we can look forward to better times ahead. With all that said, whichever side of the divide you sit on, I think we can all agree that the way the media treated Ten Hag today was absolutely disgusting. I understanding a simple one time question being asked “is today your last game for United?”? But it should’ve been asked once, and when answered, it doesn’t need to be asked again. Instead they just battered him with the same question, over and over again, wrapped up in slightly different words. Barely a question was asked about the game, tactics, selections, or the emotions he lived through the 97 minutes. What did he tell them at half time etc etc.
The whole affair was really unsavoury, and hugely disrespectful to Ten Hag, who deserved better. I thought he handled himself well, and with grace. If the man is losing his job at United, a job that is probably his dream post, it must be really painful for him. But the press treated him like he was a piece of meat, and that disgusted me. I’m not sure exactly when it was that we lost our humanity in this country, but it was a long, long time ago. Fair play to Erik, who came out with his dignity intact.
My pity and empathy for the press conferences aside, as delighted as I am with the win, I am even more excited at the prospect of us moving forwards with fresh leadership and fresh ideas. This season has been a complete disgrace, and one “backs against the wall performance” does nothing to assuage that fact. As Mark Ogden said, it’s a nice trophy to cheer, but this was a real underdog/minnows type performance, that really shouldn’t be the hallmark of a club of United’d standing. It’s a nice little win, but the tactics aren’t repeatable in 99% of games, so it doesn’t really tell us much of anything about how we might play under ETH next season. What we do know is that during the season, we had no discernible game plan at all. No organisation, and lost a record amount of games. Even with massive injuries, there’s really no excuse for playing no midfield; which is what he’s done for nearly all the season.
Congrats to all my fellow brothers and sisters in arms. A rare moment for us all to celebrate after a bleak 12 months. Hopefully there will be many more to come, and we can finally begin on the long road to get this club back to the top.