Think about it like this...
Imagine The PL with only United and Liverpool battling it out for the title every season. But with an even bigger hatred. You share the same city and have a religious element to consider also. There's genuine hatred dating back decades. You're competing with your biggest rival and losing the title to them every season you don't win it. That's a huge level of pressure on the manager of both these clubs. As United fans, we've only had to see Liverpool lift a title once in The PL era.
Feyenoord would be the Atletico Madrid of Dutch football. While Barcelona and Real will win it more times than not, Atletico can win a title. Feyenoord are the same. There's more competition at the top of these leagues than there is in Scotland. While a 2nd place finish at Ajax obviously isn't good, it won't be faced with same scrutiny that finishing 2nd behind Rangers would. Ajax have gone a few seasons without winning a title. ten Hag was close to losing out on a title to AZ Alkmaar in 2020.
I'd say there is more of expected in Europe at Ajax than there is at Celtic. Because of Ajax's history. The 70's and 90's. Domestically, big pressure at Celtic.
ten Hag has actually consistently shit the bed in European knockout games.
18/19 - Lose in the last minute vs Spurs (Champions League)
19/20 - Knocked out by Getafe in the Round of 32 (Europa League)
20/21 - Knocked out by Roma in the QF (Europa League)
21/22 - Knocked out by Benfica in the Round of 16 (Champions League)
22/23 - Knocked out by Sevilla in the QF (Europa League)
That is what is actually negative about Ten Haag's hiring. People, even club executives, did not thoroughly evaluate what they were getting. He has obvious flaws in his method, which supporters should not have been expected to recognize given their restricted access to the Eredivisie. He was popular, his club played a modern-looking brand of football, and he had a good UCL run in 2019. However, the inadequate defensive framework that we see now has always existed. I don't believe we investigated him thoroughly enough, which is why many are so surprised by his performance this season.
For me, it's the reason fans keep talking about our players' mental fragility, but under Ole, there would have been passionate debate about his ability to establish a good defensive system and handle counterattacks. In 2021, I recall us playing against Istanbul Basakshir and conceding a goal from our own corner due to a counterattack. Following that game, many questioned Ole's coaching abilities. However, I've seen similar incidents occur on a weekly basis under Ten Haag, with people doubting our players' intellect rather than looking to the manager, as they did with Ole.This is not to imply Ole was good; rather, Ten Haag is not the manager that many fans believe he is. We suffer in games because we lack the systems to maintain possession, slow down the game, and defend in a tight structure. Even under Ole, we were able to accomplish this very frequently, which is why we had some of the runs we did. Under Ole, we struggled to break down low blocks. Something that remains an issue under Ten Haag, with the added vulnerability of defensive frailty.
Having said that, I believe the club is best served today to actually screen possible individuals, given we have some football minds in place/coming shortly. The challenge we face as a club is how much trust we should place in managers from lower-quality leagues. I am aware that many pundits who appear to be pro-British often express ignorance while discussing this subject. Still, there's some truth to this when considering the kind of manager a major team ought to be looking for. A manager who has a side performing well in one of these top leagues—the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, or even the Bundesliga—should be more likely to do good job at a top team, as the league has verifiable quality. For a top club, this carries less risk. However, we can then miss out on the opportunity to hire managers like Mourinho in 2005, Postecoglu, Pep in 2008 etc.
My belief is that, as a club of our calibre, managers may need to prove themselves and the football their teams play in a top league where strong competition is frequently seen before coming to us. It enables us to fully examine their football and determine whether it can function at the top level. We may miss out on young, up-and-coming managers with novel football philosophies, but we will be more certain of the style of football we can expect. Ideally, this would take the form of recruiting managers who have already shown themselves at the top level; nevertheless, as seen with Mourinho and LVG, we risk choosing managers with large egos, stale ideas, and who have not kept up with the times. Managers that lack the patience and ability to manage young players/players from another era. As a result, I believe that selecting managers with working systems who have recently performed well in a top league is the best option. This is not to argue that misses are impossible. Potter, Moyes, Pochettino, and Sarri, among others, came from the top divisions. However, for the most part, it provides the club with fewer questions and more information about what may reasonably be expected.