Erik ten Hag | 2024/25 | Sacked

[Ace Krampus]

I think his sacking is closer than most think. If he drops any points from the spurs or villa game he’s done. We can’t afford to drop any more points so early in the season and throw away the rest of the season.

Any? I mean look if his job hinges on getting six points from two teams better than us, why bother? Just fire him now.

 

[Hugh Jass]

I think his sacking is closer than most think. If he drops any points from the spurs or villa game he’s done. We can’t afford to drop any more points so early in the season and throw away the rest of the season.

If we lose badly tomorrow, he could be gone.

 

[VP89]

That’s very obviously sarcasm. I don’t actually think that “context” is a great new excuse for our failures under Ten Hag. I actually think it’s just another incredibly weak excuse in a very long line of weak excuses.

My other post listing the reasons to “keep Ten Hag” was definitely tongue in cheek, but was absolutely based on the very real parade of excuses that have been routinely trotted out by you and many others on these pages.

Parade of excuses by me you say? Point out a recent example.

 

[Zumbi]

It's so obvious that yesterday's performance was very encouraging and we were good value for a lead if we just had our shooting boots on.

Parade of excuses by me you say? Point out a recent example.

I’d file this one under the “we just need to finish our chances” bracket.

If I went through your posting history last season, are you 100% confident I wouldn’t find some injury ones in there?

 

[devilsadvoca8]

Obviously hoping we batter them but if we lose this game, he has to go Monday morning. If we lose and he's still there for the next game then I give up.

 

[spwd]

Damn it. I forgot about the “Ineos almost sacked him but didn’t sack him therefore they backed him therefore they can’t sack him yet because it’s too early even though we’re in his third season so we have to wait till our season’s completely fecked, probably by Christmas” one.

I knew there was a key one I was missing.

 

[BabySinclair]

Crazy how Slot and Maresca don’t need 3 years

Flick, Kompany or Motta too.

Ten Hag is surely not a terrible coach but he will never coach us to the next level.

 

[arthurka]

I am not optimistic for tomorrow. Just don't see any positives in our play under this manager.

 

[dubplate warrior]

Struggling to see how someone who supports the club can back this guy.

Maresca has Chelsea battering teams.

 

[EI Beatle]

don't forget spurs have only beat us once in 7 games since they battered us 1-6,

going for a ten hag smash and grab win on individuals than tactics

 

[babablue]

Obviously hoping we batter them but if we lose this game, he has to go Monday morning. If we lose and he's still there for the next game then I give up.

Yup, this is where I am too. I voted sack, but deep down hope he can turn it around. But writing off the season before the end of september is unacceptable.

 

[giggs-beckham]

You can.

How bad would it have to get this season for you to change your mind

 

[NK86]

But we definitely can conclude Ten Hag is not good enough and should be replaced.

Some of these posters don’t understand that fans of these clubs don’t continue to hope their manager stays on despite being continuously underwhelming and poor for more than a season. These clubs know if the current one is not working, they move on to the next. Ours is the only club where fans talk about honeymoon periods of other managers while being blind to the shite being served up by ours for more than a year.

 

[Shark]

Yup, this is where I am too. I voted sack, but deep down hope he can turn it around. But writing off the season before the end of september is unacceptable.

Come on, deep down you know fans aren't simply writing off the season because of the poor start. It runs much much deeper than that. We should be well past this nonsense now. The second INEOS made the decision to keep on a manager who finished 8th, with a minus goal difference was a massive risk, and predictably hasn't paid off at all.

 

[Jezpeza]

Come on, deep down you know fans aren't simply writing off the season because of the poor start. It runs much much deeper than that. We should be well past this nonsense now. The second INEOS made the decision to keep on a manager who finished 8th, with a minus goal difference was a massive risk, and predictably hasn't paid off at all.

I wanted him to turn it around but all evidence points to it being very similar to last season. Getting similar results. Losing to the same sorts of teams. Dropping points against the same sort of teams.

The new ‘we have injuries’ is the ‘if we scored those goals we didn’t score we could have won’ I mean, no shit Sherlock, if i’d bought a load of bitcoin on its launch day i’d be rich by now.

You know he’s gone before long when all his cultists have got left to defend him with is a hypothetical alternate version of reality.

 

[CannibalSpectre]

Ange is currently playing better football than we have this season? Nah, not for me. Wasn't great vs Brentford, wasn't good vs Arsenal. Skimmed it against an easier tie in Europe. Played a shit game vs Coventry.

Yes, I've watched Spurs this season. The results haven't been good but they're not a complete reflection of thier overall performances.

On this very forum a good number of posters where bemoaning our lack of quality football compared to Spurs and Arsenal in the PL game week 4 thread

Spurs did lose that match at home but they dominated and had long periods where they pinned Arsenal back. Arsenal resorted to long balls as they couldn't play thier normal passing out of the back game. Spurs pressing is insane. Solanke is off the mark now and is blending well with his teammates. A good result will be hard to come by against these lot

 

[croadyman]

Don't know if anyone else listens to the Athletic podcast but Mitten was a bit scathing of Ten Hag's performance as manager, while saying he's a decent bloke once you get to know him.

Yeah he was on Talkshite the other night, could tell he was getting rattled with O Hara by the whole media narrative.

 

[VeryPrecious89]

I’ve never come across any mention of him being a target before ETH joined. From what I’ve read, he was initially scouted during Solskjaer’s tenure (among many other players), with the scouting team valuing him at only £20M, it was never mentioned anywhere that we were after him. There have been a lot of reports about ETH pushing hard for the transfer, which ended up with us overpaying. It seems like his fans are just trying to find excuses to defend him.

Along the lines of what I remember. As @Utterly De Ligt'd hasn't replied, possibly he's doing what he accused @sglowrider of and 'making shit up in his mind to suit his agenda'

 

[Cheimoon]

I’ve never come across any mention of him being a target before ETH joined. From what I’ve read, he was initially scouted during Solskjaer’s tenure (among many other players), with the scouting team valuing him at only £20M, it was never mentioned anywhere that we were after him. There have been a lot of reports about ETH pushing hard for the transfer, which ended up with us overpaying. It seems like his fans are just trying to find excuses to defend him.

Along the lines of what I remember. As @Utterly De Ligt'd hasn't replied, possibly he's doing what he accused @sglowrider of and 'making shit up in his mind to suit his agenda'

It looks like that truth is a little in between both perspectives, based on this post from @Adnan:

The most reliable news regarding the Antony deal either came from De Telegraaf via Mike Verweij or it came from the Brazilian outlets who were very reliable regarding the whole transfer saga all summer. And in particular Jorge Nicola, a Sao Paulo based journalist with a big following on social media who reported in June 2022 about United having two bids rejected early in the transfer window for Antony. The first offer was €45m (£38m) and a second offer of €55m (£47m) was also rejected with Ajax wanting €80m according to Jorge Nicola. United after the second rejected offer seemed to have decided that the deal wasn't making any sense and they walked away only to come back very late in the window to sign the player after the opening day defeats to Brighton and Brentford. And the blame here clearly falls on the ownership who created the problem in that particular transfer window when it came to overpaying for Antony and panicked and dipped into the revolving credit facility with just weeks left in the window. It's why I say that the Glazers are absolutely incompetent at running a football club.

The tweet below citing Jorge Nicola as the source mentions everything I've posted above pertaining the information from the journo.



At any club that is well run with a DoF model in place, the recruitment should be led by the Chief Scout/head of recruitment and not the DoF. John Murtough had fired the previous heads of recruitment on the eve of the summer transfer window in 2022 for under performance in their positions as the recruitment directors. So that transfer window in 2022, required ten Hag to take a more active approach when it came to recruitment whilst John Murtough was replacing the previous head scouts with Simon Wells and a Argentine national named Jose Mayorga. That particular window was always going to be somewhat tunnel visioned until the recruitment structure at the top of the chain was in place with at least a season of scouting and analytics under their belt. Because a DoF is ultimately going to be judged on the people he puts in place within the football departments at the club. I think we're now set as a club on the recruitment side and the next transfer window should see Mayorga, Wells, Jordan and Co have a bigger influence when it comes to signing players. If they don't then I'd be very concerned but that doesn't mean we should stop signing Dutch players or Dutch based players because the Dutch market should be tapped into. There's a right winger who is playing for PSV (Bakayoko) and he looks very explosive and if our scouts flag him up as a recommendation then we should sign him. He probably wouldn't cost a lot either.

Solskjaer said in a recent interview with Andy Mitten about there being a cap on three main signings every summer. If that is the case then it's important to sign the correct three players because even with such a cap, you can create a very strong team imo with a bit of patience. And believe it or not, I don't think we are as far away as many think and I'm now expecting the recruitment department to deliver whilst being supported by the data and video analytics guys. Man Utd have failed for a long time due to a lack of methodology and not a lack of data. If you don't know what you're applying the data towards then it's very difficult to create a well oiled machine. So if know how you want to play, then it's not difficult to sign good players imo. The data and analytics will then follow.

EtH inherited a team with no central focal point in attack, a mediocre midfield, mediocre to above average CBs and a GK who wouldn't get close to the starting 11 of any team that aspired to play a more expansive game. Results usually define how long a head coach stays in his role, but imo if he survives this season then he's in a great position to significantly improve the team because the CB and midfield areas are open for improvement. Mourinho and Solskjaer signed two CBs each (Bailly, Lindelof, Maguire and Varane) and eventhough Varane has been a excellent player in his career, it didn't make a lot of sense to sign him when there was up and coming CBs on the horizon at the time.

 

[croadyman]

Disheartening watching the other PL games on a weekly basis and seeing just how far behind we are in terms of tactics or setup. Million miles away.

Chelsea have been a joke for 2 years and took a ‘risk’ on a relatively unknown manager and suddenly look like title challengers yet 3 years and and countless former players and millions spent and we just look like an expensively built Sunderland

Yeah seeing Chelsea rack up the goals under Maresca whilst we continue to miss big chances is really depressing, definitely makes me want us to pull the trigger during next international break.

 

[Borys]

don't forget spurs have only beat us once in 7 games since they battered us 1-6,

going for a ten hag smash and grab win on individuals than tactics

This is what's going to happen. A narrow win with luck on our side, and another life extension for Ten Hag. His tenure will be slowly dying if Ineos don't have the balls to take the axe. He's the ultimate benefit of the doubt manager - if you want to be a nice guy, you'll always find an explanation and a reason to give him another last chance.

 

[Zumbi]

don't forget spurs have only beat us once in 7 games since they battered us 1-6,

going for a ten hag smash and grab win on individuals than tactics

A more pertinent stat might be that Ten Hag’s record against Spurs is WDLD. Two points in the last three games against them is pretty dire.

 

[Redfrog]

If we lose badly tomorrow, he could be gone.

Should be gone already after all the losses, not even taking account of the bad losses.

 

[Redfrog]

Damn it. I forgot about the “Ineos almost sacked him but didn’t sack him therefore they backed him therefore they can’t sack him yet because it’s too early even though we’re in his third season so we have to wait till our season’s completely fecked, probably by Christmas” one.

I knew there was a key one I was missing.

Yeah, crazy how some wants the season to be over to sack him. Always the same mistakes. This one is worse as he has been there 2 seasons and most of us knew already what to expect, which is exactly how the season is going.
7 points from an easy start and some expect it will all magically click now.

 

[leontas]

The results yesterday make him look even worse. We should be beating teams like Brighton and Crystal Palace. Particularly Brighton’s high line tactics should’ve been exploited more. His poor in game management is just evidence that he’s a poor tactician - doesn’t understand the game as well as other managers.

I just hope we can get rid of him sooner rather than later so we can salvage the season. Top 4 is already looking very competitive with Liverpool and Chelsea joining City and Arsenal at the top and Villa and Newcastle also knocking on that door.

 

[Judas]

The petty back and forths filling up pages; what on earth do you get from it?

Usual suspects too. I'd like to know how some are in real life. They're either the most argumentative petty people, or so quiet timid and reserved this is their only outlet to being ballsy and talkative.

 

[DJ_21]

Crazy how Slot and Maresca don’t need 3 years

Neither did Ole when he first took over. Went on one of the longest unbeaten runs. New manager bounces are different. I’ll judge these 2 managers in their 2nd year.

 

[Pronewbie]

I wanted him to turn it around but all evidence points to it being very similar to last season. Getting similar results. Losing to the same sorts of teams. Dropping points against the same sort of teams.

The new ‘we have injuries’ is the ‘if we scored those goals we didn’t score we could have won’ I mean, no shit Sherlock, if i’d bought a load of bitcoin on its launch day i’d be rich by now.

You know he’s gone before long when all his cultists have got left to defend him with is a hypothetical alternate version of reality.

Same it's about finding the right replacement and in the meantime hoping performances turn a corner. But right now he's on track for a 2024 sacking.

 

[DJ_21]

Damn it. I forgot about the “Ineos almost sacked him but didn’t sack him therefore they backed him therefore they can’t sack him yet because it’s too early even though we’re in his third season so we have to wait till our season’s completely fecked, probably by Christmas” one.

I knew there was a key one I was missing.

Lose the next 3 games and he’s probably out in October. Aren’t INEOS known for chopping and changing managers quite often? I read up once that Nice have been through a fair amount since they took over.

 

[devilsadvoca8]

Neither did Ole when he first took over. Went on one of the longest unbeaten runs. New manager bounces are different. I’ll judge these 2 managers in their 2nd year.

Why didn't Eth have a new manager bounce when he joined? It's not as if our first season was THAT good. The last 3 months were horrid.

 

[cpresc]

I can’t see us getting top 4

Chelsea and Liverpool are both looking great and City and Arsenal will be top 2

I also remember us laughing at Wenger’s Top 4 trophy… oh how standards have fallen

Unfortunately I think 7th or 8th is the best we can expect.

 

[VP89]

I’d file this one under the “we just need to finish our chances” bracket.

If I went through your posting history last season, are you 100% confident I wouldn’t find some injury ones in there?

Yeah I did refer to injuries. This is the stuff I wanted you to quote.

Unless you're so entrenched in your ways that logic outright defeats you, you'd agree our performance in certain games is much improved and we were unfortunate not to pick up points.

This is a clear case in Palace. Now you either agree with that (in which case it's not just an excuse but an obvious fact of how we played), or you disagree (in which case you're just about hyperbole and made up narratives).

 

[VP89]

How bad would it have to get this season for you to change your mind

Hes on his last chance saloon. I've said this many times. Disjointed play or failure to show a progressive style coupled with bad results and he's out for me.

 

[DJ_21]

Why didn't Eth have a new manager bounce when he joined? It's not as if our first season was THAT good. The last 3 months were horrid.

Although anyone would argue that a trophy and a 3rd place finish is decent in your first ever year in England. That beat what Klopp and Guardiola did in there first ever year and we probably had a worse squad.

 

[Jev]

Why didn't Eth have a new manager bounce when he joined? It's not as if our first season was THAT good. The last 3 months were horrid.

He did. We were very good from September to November. It’s been consistently bad since then.

 

[Judas]

Although anyone would argue that a trophy and a 3rd place finish is decent in your first ever year in England. That beat what Klopp and Guardiola did in there first ever year and we probably had a worse squad.

It was, but it wasn't a springboard to better. It's looking like his peak. I think eventually people will analyse his first season a bit differently.

 

[erikcred]

It was, but it wasn't a springboard to better. It's looking like his peak. I think eventually people will analyse his first season a bit differently.

Incredibly, this seems difficult to grasp for many. Especially with ETH himself continuously bragging about the cups.

 

[erikcred]

Although anyone would argue that a trophy and a 3rd place finish is decent in your first ever year in England. That beat what Klopp and Guardiola did in there first ever year and we probably had a worse squad.

Ah, yes, the solid "best of ETH is better than the worst of manager X" argument.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Crazy how Slot and Maresca don’t need 3 years

This whole 3 year bullshit started with Ole and hasn't fecked off for some reason.

 

[Overhaul FC]

Crazy how Slot and Maresca don’t need 3 years

They have inherited better squads to work with.

Our squad is decent this season only. It's not complete yet but the starting 11 is comparable with Chelsea or Liverpool now.

This is Ten Hags 3rd season with a 3rd squad. This season is the one we can judge him properly in the league. He's shown he can win cup competitions and get us to finals.

If we don't compete well against Spurs and Aston Villa it would be a bad sign for him. We have to do better than the both of them to get top 4 this season which should be our aim.

If in a few games we're way off the top 4 then I wouldn't mind INEOS looking at another manager if there was a clear improvement on Ten Hag out there.

I'm not seeing many that I think would be better, possibly Nagellsmann or a Ancelotti if we can get him next season.

The improvements in our play, both defensively and attacking wise are clear to see for those that actually know football. The problem is converting chances and I don't see how changing a manager improves the chance conversion %.

Casuals will not see any improvement in the football.