Manchester United’s management is meeting in Monaco. It feels that the head coach needs to be changed. The club will contact potential replacements, such as Mauricio Pochettino (now head coach of USA) and Thomas Tuchel (now head coach of England).
Negotiations are not progressing.
The head coach has done the chasing From Erik ten Hag lame duck
Then, to everyone’s surprise, United beat local rivals City in the FA Cup final. It’s United’s first major trophy since the Europa League in 2017, if you don’t count the League Cup shenanigans.
Unlike in the past, United will not pay for the travel or meals of its club employees during the season’s culminating FA Cup final trip.
July 2024
With a temporary CEO By Jean-Claude Blanc and HR manager Annie Hale has to be done. On July 3rd, they have assembled a group and tell that 250 employees will be fired.
That means a fourth of the club’s workforce.
The following day, on July 4, United announced that they had extended Erik ten Hag’s contract until the summer of 2026.
Promised change
The background of everything is last winter’s big news. The heavily criticized Glazer family had been the main owner of United since 2005, but finally on Christmas Eve 2023 it was reported that the British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe buys a quarter of United.
Although the Glazers remained majority shareholders, Ratcliffe’s company Ineos Group took over the club’s football operations.
Sir Alex Ferguson left the club in 2013. After that, the red thread of United’s sports management disappeared. The club was heavily in debt.
On the playing fields, United pedaled in place, even though the club had spent the most money in the world on player acquisitions in ten years.
Ratcliffe promised change.
Ratcliffe embarked on reforms that caused confusion and anger in the club. Ratcliffe pointed out that only United’s return to the green is important.
Financial reasons were also considered one of the factors why ten Hag was allowed to stay, even though ManU was eighth in the Premier League last season. It was the lowest finish of the Premier League era. For the first time, the league season’s goal difference was in the red.
The change driven by Ratcliffe was visible and felt. The entire sports management was replaced – for example, the CEO Omar Berradaas sports director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox.
In the midst of austerity talks, United was active in the summer transfer window and acquired players for 250 million euros. Only Chelsea was an even bigger spender.
October 2024
United were the last Premier League club to confirm their head coach for the season.
On October 28, it will be the first to give its head coach the boot.
ManU is 14th in the Premier League.
Ineos has done a lot of good in the club, for which it has received praise. It has finally got the Old Trafford renovation project advanced and has acquired highly respected names in the sports management.
But when it comes to restoring success, the most important decision went to the notebook.
Or like the one who played in the 1999 triple champion group Jesper Blomqvist said: “Double trouble”. First, an extension for a man who could bring in the players he wanted for big money, and then a couple of months later, a shoe.
– Now United are indeed even further behind and they have a team of players for whom the next manager may find it difficult to find a place.
And speaking of finances, the details of ten Hag’s severance package are unknown, but the sum is estimated at £16 million (around €19 million). If the contract had not been extended, the amount would naturally be much lower.
The most expensive dismissals in Premier League history are from Chelsea when Antonio Conte received compensation of £26.6 million. Jose Mourinho received £19.6m from Manchester United.
More to come. ManU wants By Ruben Amorim and is ready to pay Sporting 10 million euros.
Last season, United made a loss of £130.7m, which meant the club exceeded the limits set by the Premier League over a three-year period.
They went as allowed deductions to the academy, the women’s team and the infrastructure. Yes, with a turnover of 661.8 million pounds, the means are found.
On the other hand, ten Hag opened up last season that he couldn’t get the striker he wanted because of FFP (financial fair play) rules.
Even Sir Alex Ferguson was not safe, as ManU fired him from the role of club ambassador.
No wonder, despite important efforts, Ratcliffe’s morale and United’s club identity have been questioned.
– They believed that things would be different only because they were now in charge. My main problem is not the sporting side, which is unstable, but the destruction of the culture that supports a meaningful sporting organisation, one sacked club boss lamented to the BBC.
No more excuses
It is clear that ten Hag had to go. Focused on complaining about the injury situation and the referees, the Dutchman had completely lost his grip.
He liked to emphasize how he has brought trophies to the club, unlike a total of 14 previous United pilots.
Ten Hag could not stand the contradictions that are required of a club that enjoys global, national and local popularity.
“Playing performance really doesn’t have a significant impact on what we can do on the commercial side of the business,” United’s former vice-chairman Ed Woodward quoth.
One of the supporters might wonder if the club could try both.
A strong argument for ten Hag’s extension in the summer was that he has not yet had the opportunity to enjoy the management structures of a top professional sports club.
Now the mocking axes are singing – he still hasn’t got it.
In the past, the fury and anger of the United fans was aimed at the Glazer family. Ratcliffe already knows what it’s like to be a ManU manager.
Ratcliffe takes solace in the fact that ten Hag was not originally Ineos’ choice, but of the previous sports management. For him it was a forced marriage.
– If you look at the last 11 years, United has had quite a few coaches. No one has been successful… So that would indicate to me that there is something wrong with the environment, Ratcliffe previously said.
The next head coach choice – be it Portuguese sensation Amorim or someone else – is the Ineos management. Since then, it has changed everything in the club. No more excuses.
There is only the biggest conundrum in the world of sport: reviving United and returning them to the top.
Looking for that famous red thread.
Articles from The Athletic, BBC and Sky Sports have been used as sources for the story.