Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager

[Yagami]

How do we think this will go then?

1. Masterstroke. ETH recaptures his mid-first season form and we end up with as good if not better points tally in the League and real feeling of optimism for the 25/26 season. Turns out 14 months of consistently poor form really was the injuries after all

2. Meh. We end scrapping for 4th with a 0 goal difference and not much hope for the next season. A feeling of crushing depression spreads through half the fan base as Ten Hag is still allowed to continue due to lack of options, with constant reminders of how we backed SAF

3. Disastrous. Form is worse than ever straight from the off next season. Ten Hag is sacked in October while we hire a make-do/give it McClaren til end of season as we write off yet another year. 49% of the caf roasts the other 51% and Ineos for ignoring what was in their faces the whole time

4. Injuries. The season is hampered by long term injuries to 2 first team players. Ten Hag has learnt nothing and once again cannot work his way around it. No matter, absolutely everything is excused and he is allowed to continue on indefinitely until he eventually has an injury-free season in which we can, finally, judge his managerial prowess. This could be anywhere from 1-5 years

I’m going for 2.

For me, it depends on our transfer window. If, under our new structure, we start to identify press resistant players and bring even one in this summer, I'd say in between 1 and 2. Not the masterstroke as 1 puts it, but better than the meh of 2. A 1.5 where it's good because, if we get said players in, I think we could play good stuff this season, and that's the priority for me.

If we repeat our disastrous transfer windows of the past decade, then probably 3. That's how important our summer is, in my opinion.

 

[Dannn411]

As soon as he wasn't fired first week after the final, it was fairly obvious they were going to retain him. Gotta laugh at ignoring 2 seasons and nearly £400m of evidence to make a decision (with plans to even double down) based on the outcome of one football match. Nothing has changed.

 

[Rista]

You can’t have a manger be in place with an expiring contract. It puts him, his staff and the players in limbo as they quite literally are at the end of their contract with no security in place at all. It’s not really changing much. His termination clause likely won’t be raised. And yes you could let him go for free at the end of the season, but if he was in a position where we would be happy to part ways for free then likely he should be sacked anyway before the end for the season.

Did we not have an optional year as well?

 

[Sarni]

Did we not have an optional year as well?

We had it, he didn't. He would be going into next season without being assured of his future beyond that season. We were in position of strength.

 

[cafecillos]

I think this is a good decision. Last season was bad and there were worrying signs, that's undeniable, but he has won trophies in both seasons and I personally think he deserves another season under the new management and in more normal/stable circumstances regarding injuries, ownership uncertainty, off-the-field issues, etc.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

You can’t have a manger be in place with an expiring contract. It puts him, his staff and the players in limbo as they quite literally are at the end of their contract with no security in place at all.

Of course you can.

Ancelotti signed a 3-year deal with Real Madrid that expired this summer. He entered the season without having renewed the contract. Real Madrid only met with him to renew the contract in December, and announced the renewal in December 2023. The club waited to see how the season was playing out, liked what they saw.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Because the fans got giddy about winning the last game.

I did too but you move on and return to thinking like an adult.

When EtH came to United he demanded a lot of control, according to all public statements more than INEOS want to give a manager/head coach in their future structure. It might be necessary to renegotiate his deal to take that control away from him and be able to give it to other positions (like Ashworth). His contract could well be an obstacle to INEOS vision. And if you take something away from someone you usually have to pay for that, so it might not be a reward but it might be a necessary move to implement the intented structure.

Okay now that’s an interesting angle. Hopefully this is the reason as otherwise he has to convict the club he deserves more time.

 

[Rista]

We were in position of strength.

In that case it makes sense United would do this. Why be in position of strength when you don't have to be.

 

[Ayush_reddevil]

Of course you can.

Ancelotti signed a 3-year deal with Real Madrid that expired this summer. He entered the season without having renewed the contract. Real Madrid only met with him to renew the contract in December, and announced the renewal in December 2023. The club waited to see how the season was playing out, liked what they saw.

You have a club that values winning, we are happy with projecting that it’s a new beginning every season

 

[Greyfog]

Get innnnnnnn. Let's feckin gooooooo.
Love to see it! Best decision since SAF left
Top 3 and cup(s) easy for next season. Let's go again. Heh

 

[Lay]

Extending his contract is wild and totally the united way

 

[Ikon]

For what it's worth, I am pleased that the club have finally stood by Erik.
I think it's the right decision, and it would have been hypocritical of Sir Jim, considering the praise that he has given Arsenal for sticking with Arteta through the difficult early years of his reign.

If there was an opportunity to appoint a manager of the established calibre of a Klopp, Ancelotti maybe even Zidane, then OK, I could understand making a change, but what happened to the INEOS mantra "Best in Class for all football roles" when they are looking at Thomas Frank, Graham Potter & Gareth Southgate..?!?
So to me, it made absolutely no sense to appoint any of the managers that we have been linked with, except perhaps Tuchel, considering his CV, but when was the last time he stayed in a job more than 2 years?

Whats the first thing INEOS did when they arrived, they began to sack the old guard of Arnold, Murtough etc, and appointed proper football people into those roles. That tells you, they acknowledge that the football infrastructure & recruitment was crap, and you can't keep blaming managers for that.

We all know that the problems at this club run deep, and they have been allowed to fester for many, many years, so give a decent manager a chance with a competent and capable structure and see how he does.
If it doesn't improve, that's when you sack him, but at least allow him to do his job with the proper support.

Apart from the ridiculous number of injuries that ETH has had to contend with, also don't forget all the off field nonsense that has caused disruption, Greenwood, Sancho, Antony, Ronaldo, Hannibal, and then the poor performances of Rashford & Casemiro to name but two...and the club being up for sale!
These are all contributing factors that shouldn't be forgotten about.

Lets hope we have a great window, clear out some of the 'deadwood' bring in some genuine quality, and are able to look back at last season as a blip.

 

[Dr. T]

Hmmm. Couple of reasons I'm considering.

1. This is Man United. Only Man United could award their manager with a new contract after a season of record defeats, record shots against, record low points etc etc and some of the most dismal football served up at OT in decades. I mean they're not only keeping ETH in place but they're in talks over a new contract...!

2. INEOS need to keep a fall guy in place while they get their feet warm under the desk. If they were to jettison him now, they have no major continuity position to blame if it all falls apart by Christmas again. They've changed a bunch of higher ups, so they need one patsy in place.

3. There's an absolute hodgepodge of transfers at the club, signed by ETH. They have to believe he has some idea what to do with £60m Mason Mount besides 'come on with 20 mins to go and look busy'. They have to believe with fit defenders he'll get a tune out of Onana's 'passing game'.

4. They looked at ETH and thought 'yes, this is the guy for us' + the alternatives were underwhelming. Pochetino probably a couple years too late, de Zerbi too early, Tuchel not the right fit.

 

[Grande]

I think it is a terrible decision but then I also don't know what has been going on behind closed doors, for all we know Tuchel, McKenna and Poch may have all turned down the offer once they saw it, ETH is already hooked so may have been the only option open.... or maybe INEOS have just decided to go with ETH.

Either which way please FFS do not enter into contract extension talk until at least 10 games in and we can see where things are at, we were told last season it would take £9m to pay him out, why would we want to burden ourselves by increasing that if he does fail.

So being firmly ETH out that is my last on this, the die is cast and for now he gets my full backing, I hope he sees the error of his ways and plays more pragmatically when necessary, I hope he proves me and all the other naysayers wrong, because ultimately all I care about is us playing football I want to watch and being as successful as possible doing it, if he brings that to the table I will happily eat humble pie!

Well I think this is the best decision personally, but I don’t think you should eat more humble pie than me or the rest of us, regardless of what happens next season. The truth is, polarizing focuses aside, that I don’t know the half of it, not even the tenth of it, and probably none of us do. I think 9/10 times Ten Hag will give your team top value, and we had the tenth season this year, but to be honest, even googling everything I could about Go Ahead Eagles of Deventer, all I see is the tip of the iceberg. Besides, humble pie doesn’t taste so bad if you don’t overdo it.

i for one look forward to focussing less on the manager position and more on the hoorrorshow that summer muppetry invariably is.

 

[Crimson King]

Did we not have an optional year as well?

Yeah but I imagine the extension is to outline his role under INEOS e.g. no more transfer veto.

It'll probably be a 2+1 extension, but we'll have to wait and see. Very much doubt they'll throw 6 years at him.

 

[SAF is the GOAT]

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[djembatheking]

Great news, the players are still playing for him, the club has now backed him and the most important fans, the matchgoers, are behind him. Great to see everyone united again.

 

[FootyGirl88]

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[VP89]

For his performance in the last two seasons, which included two cups and have clearly been assessed positively following our reviews. It's also to give him assurances for future and not have him go into the season concerned for his position. It's the right thing to do if you have opted to go with him.

Can't believe I'm actually turning into his defender now. @VP89 @BenitoSTARR can I still join your club? Promise I'll be good.

Put an an end to supporter subsections now Just draw a line and see how things go. We can all put it to bed and collectively hope our results and gameplay improve following the transfer window.

 

[moses]

I did too but you move on and return to thinking like an adult.

Yeah, famously, these childlike billionaires frequently check in with internet forums for the adult consensus.

 

[Raw]

Fully expected him to get the sack so I'm somewhat intrigued by how he'll do next season. I hope INEOS will give him the best environment to thrive at his job.

Him getting sacked after a poor season would have just been typical decision we'd make in the past, and like before it seemed like it made sense because we end up signing another promising manager who inevitably fails. So to do something different does intrigue me.

If we continue to play terrible football and concede 30 shots every game then he obviously won't last long.

 

[macheda14]

Of course you can.

Ancelotti signed a 3-year deal with Real Madrid that expired this summer. He entered the season without having renewed the contract. Real Madrid only met with him to renew the contract in December, and announced the renewal in December 2023. The club waited to see how the season was playing out, liked what they saw.

Comparing apples and oranges. A manger in a stable environment who has said they’d be happy to retire after once they’ve finished at Madrid who has complete buy in from the players and fans vs one who’s job is fully up in the air. Ancelotti’s authority wouldn’t be in question from the players.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

I think it's the right decision, and it would have been hypocritical of Sir Jim, considering the praise that he has given Arsenal for sticking with Arteta through the difficult early years of his reign.

If there was an opportunity to appoint a manager of the established calibre of a Klopp, Ancelotti maybe even Zidane, then OK, I could understand making a change, but what happened to the INEOS mantra "Best in Class for all football roles" when they are looking at Thomas Frank, Graham Potter & Gareth Southgate..?!?

To play devil's advocate: doesn't the second paragraph's logic also apply to Arsenal?

Arsenal had Unai Emery as their manager. He was, objectively, a better manager than Arteta, because Arteta wasn't a manager at all. Wouldn't the right decision have been to stick with Emery, then?

 

[mikeyt]

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That's all well and good but let's not throw a new contract his way FFS. We need a minimum of six new faces imo and at least four or five in addition to Martial and Varane, need shifting. Lets see how this goes.

Now they've announced he's staying, we better pull our fingers out and get some signings done.

 

[The holy trinity 68]

Only because Rashford was in the goalscoring form of his life. We weren't great to watch for the most part.

I believe Rashford will score 20+ goals in all competitions next season. Not going to the European Championship will do wonders for him and the team. He gets a long rest, and will come back motivated and hungry due to his disappointment of missing out on the squad.

 

[Doracle]

Yes, even if so but you don't invest billions into Manchester United and admit you don't know what you should do.

You act, back him, and sack him if he doesn't repay your faith. You don't just flounder publicly.

You also don’t increase your liability to pay him in the event he carries on as per last season just to try and portray confidence, when it’s clear there is none. It’s perfectly reasonable for Ineos to see how it goes next season before extending his deal.

What if he starts with 4 straight Crystal Palace performance style losses? They would have to act then and they (well the club) would just be paying out extra money given the new contract for no benefit.

 

[The holy trinity 68]

That's all well and good but let's not throw a new contract his way FFS. We need a minimum of six new faces imo and at least four or five in addition to Martial and Varane, need shifting. Lets see how this goes.

Now they've announced he's staying, we better pull our fingers out and get some signings done.

He has 1 year left on his contract. No manager of an elite club should be going into the season in the final year of his contract.

Also, the club will be changing his contract to specify him not having free reign of transfer choices and other stuff due to the new set up.

 

[SirScholes]

You have to understand how ridiculous this is, right? We beat City in the FA cup final.

Not quite the full story is it
one off game derby game as well
I’m putting 100% of that win on the players
He took us to the worst season I’ve seen

 

[Kellyiom]

When EtH came to United he demanded a lot of control, according to all public statements more than INEOS want to give a manager/head coach in their future structure. It might be necessary to renegotiate his deal to take that control away from him and be able to give it to other positions (like Ashworth). His contract could well be an obstacle to INEOS vision. And if you take something away from someone you usually have to pay for that, so it might not be a reward but it might be a necessary move to implement the intented structure.

Good points there. I hope the recruitment is handled better and takes on board EtH's views but the control is passed elsewhere.

I was pretty negative by February because the quality looked so bad and I thought he'd be gone.

I hope this is a sign of INEOS implementing its business model and I feel that when the season starts, I've got to back him 100% and I hope INEOS is going to do the same. If you won't back him, then sack him.

 

[Gabriel Djemba-Bebe]

This is just a cope. As flattering as the actual scoreline may have been for Liverpool, no way in hell anyone in their right mind would say we deserved anything out of that game, and all the deficiencies seen in that game were seen over and over last season.

7-0 was really a warning sign of how last season would pan out.

I never said we deserved anything out of the game, but based on the fact that we should've scored in the first half, and almost every shot on target they had went in, I'd say a 3-1 loss would've been a fair result. Then no one would be talking about that game.

 

[Stack]

I was pretty determined that he should go, called him a clown among other things. The FA cup made me rethink, not so much winning it but seeing how the players responded to him and how well we played. That with none of those managers we were linked with really getting me excited meant I switched my vote. I now need to be as fair as possible and give him a fair chance and not get all pissy if a few results dont go our way. I hope he suceeds and make my comments from the season just gone look foolish

 

[moses]

You also don’t increase your liability to pay him in the event he carries on as per last season just to try and portray confidence, when it’s clear there is none. It’s perfectly reasonable for Ineos to see how it goes next season before extending his deal.

What if he starts with 4 straight Crystal Palace performance style losses? They would have to act then and they (well the club) would just be paying out extra money given the new contract for no benefit.

Fundamentally you don't send him into the season in charge and not back him. you take away a manager's ability to manage with any authority.

How do you know there is no confidence in him? I'm just indulging you by offering the optics explanation.

The people in charge have so much more data than you. Maybe acknowledge that the people with all the info might be in a better position than you to make the call.

 

[SteveCoppellFan]

Manager 1 Players 0

Some of those players that thought they could outlast another manager need a change of plan.

For whatever reasons, ETH was poor this season, but I would rather give the manager another year to prove himself than give the players another year with another manager.

 

[pauldyson1uk]

OK we won the FA Cup , when most expect a beating, but some of his tactic's are very suspect.
Willing to draw a line under last season and let him carry on with his job.
8th finish in the PL is totally unacceptable, Europe by the skin of out teeth.
100% the FA Cup saved his job and yeah I can see why, but we have to continue getting rid of the dead wood.

 

[moses]

Not quite the full story is it
one off game derby game as well
I’m putting 100% of that win on the players
He took us to the worst season I’ve seen

Well, they set us up perfectly. And even practiced in the preceding three league games.

 

[Zed 101]

To the transfer muppetry huzzah!

 

[Robertd0803]

Ok then.

The end of the season from the Arsenal game when we switched tactics (about 13 games late but anyway) winning the FA Cup (and how they won it) and the alternative options to replace him not being great were probably decisive in the end.

Id imagine a new contract will/should change the role to Head Coach and remove the veto option hopefully.

 

[Drifter]

Oh, feck

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Extending his contract is wild and totally the united way

Myself and others said this would have to be the case if he stayed though.

It was one of the big reasons I thought he was going to be sacked.

Hopefully it’s just a year extended and his job responsibilities changed to remove his influence on the transfers

 

[Kellyiom]

Hmmm. Couple of reasons I'm considering.

1. This is Man United. Only Man United could award their manager with a new contract after a season of record defeats, record shots against, record low points etc etc and some of the most dismal football served up at OT in decades. I mean they're not only keeping ETH in place but they're in talks over a new contract...!

2. INEOS need to keep a fall guy in place while they get their feet warm under the desk. If they were to jettison him now, they have no major continuity position to blame if it all falls apart by Christmas again. They've changed a bunch of higher ups, so they need one patsy in place.

3. There's an absolute hodgepodge of transfers at the club, signed by ETH. They have to believe he has some idea what to do with £60m Mason Mount besides 'come on with 20 mins to go and look busy'. They have to believe with fit defenders he'll get a tune out of Onana's 'passing game'.

4. They looked at ETH and thought 'yes, this is the guy for us' + the alternatives were underwhelming. Pochetino probably a couple years too late, de Zerbi too early, Tuchel not the right fit.

Yeah, your 4th point is an interesting one. I don't know if it's a reflection of how outsiders view the club or maybe just an unusual period where there are just fewer managers.

Maybe to a lot of managers we're viewed as 'struggling giants' or some tabloid label like that. We understand just how good the club can be but maybe a lot of managers might not have the emotional connection.