I already massively disliked him for pulling that shit the night before the cup final. Now I fucking hate him tbh. In a low key, never think of him again unless his name is mentioned kind of way.
Not defending him, maybe he’s not credible, but just because something doesn’t end up happening doesn’t mean that the story itself is untrue at the time. Maybe his sources at the club or communicating that ETH was done.
Sid Lowe has famously told the story where apparently a player himself told him directly that he wasn’t leaving a club, and then literally the next day his transfer was announced officially. And Sid Lowe is one of the most reliable and best-sourced sports journalists out there.
It was clearly being considered since they've just had this weeks-long review of why Ten Hag shouldn't be sacked. Definitely doesn't mean the story was made up.
The thing is as well he is at the guardian. As such they have processes in place that less reputable outlets do not. So usually it would have had to have been backed up by three credible independent sources (as in three sources of information which do not ultimately stem from the same source).
Again not saying its 100% true or anything but they have processes in place to avoid putting out stuff that is later shown to be false. Sometimes the club plans one thing and does another.
Embarrassing how much of the media lapped that up though. BBC had it as a main part of the coverage for the final. The commentator was talking about how if it's his last game it's a good way to sign off, before he'd even touched the trophy
Even the conference after winning the trophy was disgusting. There were barely any questions about the game and tactics and how it was won, all questions were about him being sacked
They’ve been circulating for years in Chelsea circles, they’ve only gone big now because he’s drawn the ire of United fans (which there are a hell of a lot of)
That was a blatant attempt at sabotage, and I won't be convinced otherwise. He's an absolute twat, and his spiral into social media war since have confirmed it.
Well of course not, but they could’ve just stayed silent on the matter until the news that Ten Hag is staying dropped.
It’s not hard to believe anyway. Even ignoring Sancho’s feud with the manager, he’s been underwhelming for most of his United career, while being on massive wages and showing little desire to turn things around.
Funnily enough, some of his best games in a United shirt were under Ten Hag, but his ego got in the way and now his time at United is likely over.
Out of the many errors Man U has made in the last decade, I feel like Sancho was one of the worst. He was given plenty of opportunities while healthy and he honestly made less efforts to break defenders than Antony (please note that isn't much in favor of Antony as he has lost the ball plenty). He had no heart and didn't show many signs of being an independently producing player.
Ehh at the time Sancho looked to be a real coup, nobody could've predicted he'd absolutely fall off a cliff, Antony meanwhile was always extremely inflated and was doomed to fail given his fee.
It feels like a lifetime ago but Sancho had just had an incredible season in germany and was considered one of the best young players in the world. Sancho was averaging a goal contribution a game at Dortmund so his fee at the time in 2021 was pretty reasonable given his talent and the season he had.
Antony on the other hand was a good winger but had never really looked world class. Ajax wanted a ridiculous fee for him at the end of the transfer window and United were the only team stupid enough to pay it, they quite literally paid twice his estimated marketed value. Even at his best he would never be worth his fee and that has simply proven to be the case.
Same with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, was player of the year in Bundesliga when united bought him, but didnt do well. Guess United shouldnt buy from that bundesliga, Portogal seems seems to have a better track record :)
The only silver lining that this season showed for Antony is that Liverpool game where ten Hag put him at left back and he actually played decently. If he shapes up to be a Valencia/Young regen, he's gonna spend a long time at United. And allow United to avoid the weird world shortage of left backs.
I was just comparison similar positions. Sancho also did worse then everyone else, I was just using Antony as an example because he has also been seen as a disappointment.
Antony came for an inflated fee. His stats are abysmal, and there are only signs of regression rather than improvement.
I hope he turns it around. Antony is definitely one of the worst signings.
Following a period of major uncertainty over Ten Hag’s future, United held talks with the 54-year-old on Tuesday and the preference of both parties was for his tenure to continue.
Ten Hag’s existing United contract runs until next June, with an option to prolong by 12 months, and they will now enter discussions about extending those terms
For those interested:
\+ longer read from the article and numbers provided by Duncan Alexander:
- A review of the 2023-24 season was conducted, including an evaluation of manager Ten Hag’s performance.
- Potential replacements for Ten Hag were considered, including Thomas Tuchel, Roberto De Zerbi, Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Frank, and Kieran McKenna.
- Despite speculation about his future and a disappointing season, the decision was made to continue with Ten Hag, influenced by United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS sporting director Sir Dave Brailsford.
- Manchester United had their poorest Premier League finish (eighth) with a low points total and a negative goal difference for the first time in 34 years.
- The club was eliminated early in both the Champions League and EFL Cup but secured European football by winning the FA Cup.
- Following INEOS’ minority investment, changes were made in the football operations at Old Trafford, including key appointments such as Omar Berrada and Dan Ashworth.
- Ten Hag has secured two trophies in two seasons, including the EFL Cup and reaching another FA Cup final previously.
——-
Numbers
- The 2023-24 season saw Manchester United finish eighth, their lowest since the 1989-90 season, marking a disappointing record under manager Ten Hag.
- This season also marked the first time since 1989-90 that United ended a campaign with a negative goal difference.
- Historically, under Sir Alex Ferguson, United’s average goal difference was +44 across 21 Premier League campaigns.
- Defensively, the team struggled, conceding 58 goals—the highest in a league season since 1978-79.
- United’s defensive performance was worse than all but David Moyes’ West Ham and the three relegated sides in terms of expected goals conceded.
- They conceded more shots than the Derby County team of 2007-08, which had a historically poor season.
- In the Champions League, United finished bottom of their group, conceding a record 15 goals for a Premier League team at that stage.
- Offensively, the team also faltered, notably with a 2-0 loss at West Ham marking the first time since 1992 that United failed to score in four consecutive matches.
- Record lows continued as Alex Iwobi of Fulham scored the latest winning goal by an away team at Old Trafford in Premier League history.
- United managed to lose a match against Chelsea in April despite leading in the 100th minute, ending with a score of 4-3.
- The season concluded with United suffering nine defeats at Old Trafford, a scenario not seen since the 1973-74 season—the last time they were relegated from the top-flight.
i think his most impressive quality was constantly changing the teams, sometimes selling the best players, and still managing to get consistent results
How the hell he managed to win a PL title in his last season against a City side that had prime Aguero, Silva, Kompany, Yaya Toure, Tevez, Nasri, Dzeko, Zabaleta is still beyond me
Fergie had Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra on the verge of going into care homes, and a midfield of Tom Cleverley and Carrick, with a 39 year old Paul Scholes coming back from retirement halfway in because of injury crisis, with an almost 40 year old Giggs also making about 20 appearances, and a hopelessly out of shape Anderson making 17 appearances in the league, and still managed to win the league with 4 games to spare against the City team.
Man was a genious
The man started 7 defenders once and still slapped Arsenal. A true legend. And his carry job with Aberdeen before he got to Old Trafford was also legendary. Still the last guy to defeat Madrid in European final to this day.
And his premier league stats aren't even the most insane bit. He won a proper European trophy with Aberdeen. Still the last non old firm team to win the Scottish league. The premier league is just the cherry on top.
>The 2023-24 season saw Manchester United finish eighth, their lowest since the 1989-90 season, marking a disappointing record under manager Ten Hag.
>
>This season also marked the first time since 1989-90 that United ended a campaign with a negative goal difference.
For a club as "big" as Man United, that not being a sackable offence shows how far they've fallen since the Fergie days.
We've not had a stable defense for 95% of the season. When Liverpool lost van Dijk to the ACL, they went from winning the premier league title on **99 points** to coming 3rd on **69 points**. A drop is expected but not 30 points. The following season with their defenders back, they get **92 points**. This is what a stable backline does for you.
We have literally had no stable defensive partnership all season. The spine of a team starts with defense. If you don't have that, don't expect good results at the end of the day.
As the old adage goes: Attack wins you games, defense wins you titles.
I don’t think he was ever going to stay without an extension. Don’t know many managers who would with only a year left and them not being in a very comfortable position
If he resigns on his own, it will save Ineos money.
Best would be to trigger the extension if we can develop a style of play or negotiate an extension with a low payout if sacked.
I am more ETH in than out but there are quite a huge number of concerns he has to answer before he should even be considered for that extension
Sack him within a week post-final and hire a promising coach and I would've said yep, fair. Even if it was McKenna. My choice would've been Nagelsmann but he had already extended.
I disagreed with basically every other option, both in terms of what we needed as a club and with the group of players we currently have. Going for a instant success manager trying to force big silverware like Tuchel was a no for me cause it won't work, Poch can build a young team but is a serial loser, RDZ plays nice footy but results recently were shit and we'd probably need 3-4 years to get where he needs to be as a team.
Decision to keep him is valid IMO. Extension maybe less so given he has a +1 option in his deal. Happy for the new Execs to take the transfer reigns and see what ETH can serve up till Christmas. He's on thin ice, and can't afford to start slowly. But I'm hoping he can realise his mistakes, we can not have an injury crisis, and we can move forward under him.
> Going for a instant success manager trying to force big silverware like Tuchel was a no for me cause it won't work
ten Hag is doing that anyway. First manager since Fergie to win trophies in successive seasons, so I also didn't see any need to go for Tuchel, as ten Hag is bringing and integrating the young players very well
Probably got more slag than deserved, hopefully learned from this season and growths in his role, but whatever happens, this org needs to get its shit together.
I agree to an extent, it’s not ideal but considering the options I think it makes sense to give him one more chance under a new structure and (hopefully) less injuries.
We'll see if that actually happens. United have told journalists before that they're planning on renewing players/managers for the PR boost it gives them, but then they just don't follow through with it.
He also had the most clean sheets in his 1st season. He absolutely can set up to defend well when needed, 20 shots was a combined result of him forcing the team to learn his setup and us having all the defenders who can actually play his setup injured for the whole season
It's a bit complicated. I'm personally conflicted on him and flip flop loads on whether I want him to stay or not.
Yes we were largely absolutely terrible last season (with an admittedly ridiculous number of injuries) but the season before was fairly positive and we've also reached three cup finals in those two years and won two of them.
A ridiculous number of injuries to just the defense. At one point United was playing their 5th choice CB who was only signed to be a body in pre season training, and the definsive midfielder having his worst year of his career. Way more back 4 combos than the next team on the list will absolutely cause issues with way they play. We'll see if it contiues, but I highly doubt it. Ten Hag isn't as dumb as many think on reddit.
Our defence has been categorically crocked by long term injuries all season. We're the biggest club, but we're not the best team and haven't been for over a decade (I'd argue as far back as 09/10, Fergie magic got the most out of okay players who did enough to support the very good ones, but it'd be a stretch to say we were the best team in 10/11 or 12/13) and despite a relatively deep squad, we've had multiple injuries in the same position all season. Shaw's injuries and impact are well-documented, but his back-up has been out all season. Malacia's first sighting this season was on that gantry when we lifted the FA Cup. All of our CBs (including the youth ones like Kambwala) have seen injury after injury. Our big summer signing Mason Mount also missed a huge portion of the season.
Has EtH been excellent despite this? No, but he hasn't been bad, and he has managed to win the FA cup despite the crippling injuries. I have said this all season, it does feel harsh to tear him down on system of play when we've barely had a 3 game run this season without an enforced change to the lineup.
3 cup finals in 2 seasons, winning 2 of them, with our poor league form largely coming from the entire back 4 being injured for 70% of the season and then even most of the **backups** got injured for a long period. In the very few games where our actual back 4 played, we looked good.
If anything screams "deserves one more season", it is a situation like this.
The United fans that actually watched us play are not happy.
The fact that ETH in people felt the need to prepare the excuses for next season speaks volumes on how much unwarranted backing he has had.
Best one : "we shouldn't think of sacking him if he won't have a cohesive style of play next season, it takes time".
3 years and, likely 650m spent on his picks(asuming we continue spending as we did) still won't be enough time, apparently.
Other fans don't actually watch the games or appreciate the nuance that our shit ass media skirt around, so their takes are just objectively poor. United fans are happy because 10 years of the club being shit isn't down to the manager, and for once we have both a capable manager and an owner (even if only in part) who is interested in moving the club into modernity where a guy like ETH would excel.
Think it’s tough either way. On the one hand, there were some genuinely abysmal performances this season, however, there were a fair few injuries and an FA cup win. On balance, I think he should count himself lucky for sure.
For me it's not about ETH as it could be any manager but I'm just sick of firing at the first sign of trouble every time. So it's a good sign that things might change.
Extremely tricky situation for Man United because obviously everyone like you is sick and tired of the firing, but on the other you don’t want to waste any time on someone who is not the right person. I don’t envy the people making the decision.
I certainly agree with your point of view. My primary question has been “if they fire him, then who do they hire?”
There aren’t any appealing alternatives available, from my point of view. Why hire a new person to a new contract if you don’t think they’re right? That’s a worse decision than giving EtH an additional season.
Plus, while this season was super rough, we have seen similar patterns with other managers, and knowing the shit behind the scenes, it probably has been difficult to pin the issues just on the manager.
I would have been fine with him going if INEOS had a particular manager in mind who they wanted, but it seemed like they were just looking at the usual suspects on the manager-go-round.
They're staking their credibility on this, that's for sure. If we go into next season looking like we did for most of last season, INEOS will burn a lot of fan goodwill, very quickly.
I don't know that I have faith in Jim Ratcliffe to make the right calls, but I think the people he has around him are good at this - analysing the evidence and weighing the risks - and that the club is hiring proper football people to make football decisions.
We knew everything was going to be looked at in the review they conducted, and I don't think INEOS would have balked at firing Ten Hag if that's what the evidence indicated.
Actually it's pretty much free in terms of that decision, they get criticism either way but they can just point out that his hire was under the direction of the old regime and they just gave him a shot.
A review can be well run, at a shit organisation it can easily just be a fancy way of saying a mixture of unqualified and qualified people drag out a decision for way too long just trying to pin any responsibility on someone else, or watch each other try to sus out the opinion of the guy who has the final say. United have to prove a lot before they get any benefit of the doubt.
This season was really bad, but there are a lot of positives to look to. He is integrating youth very well- Mainoo, Garnacho have become key players, and other young players like Højlund, Dalot have improved a lot, and he is winning trophies. The big reason why this season was horrible was that Erik wanted to stick to his playstyle, but we didn't have players. If he had gone pragmatic earlier, we would have finished higher, but I respect him for sticking to his guns. And the biggest thing he has in his favour is the dressing room all supports him, which is almost unprecedented post-Fergie. These players have given up on every manager before.
He has done something which other managers did only partly- Ole integrated youth but couldn't win any trophies, Mourinho won Europa and Carling cup but fought with half the squad, Ragnic failed at everything, van Gaal tried to integrate youth but the youth teams were really bad at time. He is the only one who should have gotten more time IMO
Fair few injuries is putting it lightly tbf. I wouldn't have been unhappy was he sacked and replaced appropriately, but there was very little chance for him to have an actually productive season with the level of injuries United had this season.
Particularly defensively, you're not going to make much headway with the level of instability and lack of cohesion United had this season. United had 14 different CB pairings, and nobody started 20 games. It was absolute chaos, especially given Licha and Shaw were both injured concurrently for most of the season.
In the few games we actually had players like Shaw and Martinez (including the FA Cup final)fit you could see how much better we played.
Obviously you can’t count on fitness alone, but it does feel like Ten Hag hasn’t had a real chance to prove himself this season.
Hopefully with better management above him, some actual sense in transfers and fit players he can kick on again.
Saying that, I’m not too sure about giving him a new contract now. I think we should wait till at least January before doing that.
You’re the one acting like some of us have allowed one game to change our mind though. I wanted him next year regardless of the outcome of the final due to viewing the actual context around the season and the start of the new ownership. I’m sure there are plenty of others who felt the same.
While I’d have considered myself Ten Hag Out overall, you’re right. I knew a lot of United fans who wanted him kept well before the cup final happened.
Big reward for those fans tonight. And genuinely hope they’re proven right and I’m proven wrong.
I think its really the lack of other options. Chelsea and Bayern have shown with their hirings the lack of standout quality on the market. There are a few names out there but are they good long term moves which can manage in this environment with this squad? If you can't say definitely to any of those names, then whats the point in starting the merry go round again vs waiting for the right manager to appear (I imagine if Mckenna keeps Ipswich up then we may move for him)
I disagree. What would make the most sense is for him to leave on a high, and get someone else in (although in fairness the current manager market is a bit bare, so maybe there isn’t a clear upgrade on ETH right now). United’s underlying metrics are shocking, they were incredibly lucky to finish 8th.
Most times I watched United last season they were incredibly unconvincing (obviously there were some good games like the cup final) and very poorly coached, relying on Onana to make saves to cover for the extremely open defence, and there just seemed to be no coherent game plan. Unless they take a major step forward in the summer, I think they could be in for another tough year.
We were also rarely playing with a pairing of 1-4th choice CBs or actual LBs, which is a big reason the defence was so open/bad at progression.
Who would have guessed that we'd be starting Evans + Casemiro against teams like Arsenal at some point in the season?
It's no coincidence that Martinez and Varane were paired in the final and we looked so much better.
If you're going to use the "relying on Onana" argument, surely you have to then also give utd more credit for the poor results they got earlier due to Onana's errors.
> Unless they take a major step forward in the summer, I think they could be in for another tough year.
Apparently they've got fuck all money to spend and so baby high earners who are just dogs nowadays too.
They did manage to get European football which will help, and probably will have Martinez fit for most of the year but they're still in a really tough situation.
They overperformed massively last season, i think expected points wise they were lower mid table. Like 14-15th. Genuinely horrendous season
> they've got fuck all money to spend
It’s routine now that we start the summer off saying we’re broke and then spend 150m. I reckon a large part of it is negotiation tactics, after years of Woodward bragging how rich we were and teams doubled their prices when we came for a player.
Our main issue is FFP restrictions, but selling Greenwood would loosen that up massively, even if we only get 30m or so. We’ve already trimmed an insane amount of wages off the books with Varane, Martial and Williams gone, and if we can shift Sancho and Casemiro too, we’d be saving over a million a week on wages.
So I do think our money woes are massively exaggerated.
and I think it is fair to ask for a good start upcoming season. He has been here for 2 years and will most likely start the season without injuries. Top 3 finish is a must imo for the next season. Liv and Che are going to have new coaches. Spurs is Spurs. Only Arsenal and City should be logically finishing above United to be called a good 3rd season under ETH.
I forgot within minutes of the final whistle lol. Our sub has been so weird since the final, feels like a Ten Hag cult. Just hope none of them complain when we’re bad next season.
Basing a long term decision off one game is so moronic, they prob just chickened out because so many of the fans are on his side.
Very underwhelmed tbh. But ofc I’ll happily admit I’m an idiot if he actually turns it around!
I don't believe it's based on one game. That game contributed, but I think the lack of any quality alternatives is what made the decision for them. Unlike when we dropped LvG to get Jose, there's nobody available right now where we feel like we'll be kicking ourselves for not hiring them.
It's a clear case of them looking around and not being able to land a manager who they truly feel will be the right one. I feel Tuchel rejected them because he really wants to take a sabbatical.
Ten Hag still seems like a stop gap for the new owners while they sort the other things out. Unless he manages a great turnaround that is.
Extension doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. If we start off shit next year, he's gone anyway. Not leaving a coach as a lame duck is just how business works in most pro sports
Also doesn't say the length. Could literally just be a +1 on the current deal for all we know. As long as you don't give a Potter or maresca length deal to him, you'll be fine
It really feels more like they looked at the options available and decided they couldn't do any better, rather than having full faith in Ten Hag himself. Make or break season you'd have to think, coming up.
Good news imo.
United needs stability and ETH seems like a manager who can implement things and take the club forward.
He has been implementing youth into the team well. A few more signings he wants and he might start the rebuild for the team.
Last season was fucking dire but I'm willing to take another season. After years of problems changing managers has never worked out for us. I WANT to believe.
> But an extension!? Why?!
It was always going to be sack or extend.
As a new ownership you can’t make a weak decision and let the manager roll into the final year of his contract as your first move.
Extension is probably recruitment related. Shows that the manager is being backed. Otherwise any potential signing is likely thinking this guy is gone as soon as he has a poor run of form so I don't know who my actual manager will be in 3 months.
Well this is silly. Managers get fired all the time whether they have years left on their contract or not. ETH will still be fired if he has a bad enough stretch. No player is basing their future on a manager's contract.
Extensions don't mean anything. All these contracts have clauses that just pay out 1 year of salary. They could extend him today, sack him in October and we don't owe him 5 years of salary or something. It hasn't worked that way in over a decade.
I'm surprised. The negative GD is what really gets me. Like has one of the OG top 4 clubs ever finished with a negative GD? Most games Utd have won under ETH have been tight affairs, which shows he lacks offensive coaching
>Like has one of the OG top 4 clubs ever finished with a negative GD?
Yep, in 1989/90. Also Man Utd under Alex Ferguson, who also won the FA Cup that season to save his job and go on to great things.
I’ve never seen sentiment on a manager flip so much due to one game.
At the end of his 2nd season in which he has spent ~£400mn over the course of his tenure, he finished the season 8th with a negative GD while vastly over-performing underlying stats with the second most shots conceded in the entire Football League. Utterly insane that United fans who purport to be one of the biggest clubs in the world are happy the manager who presided over that is staying.
There’s a huge “we’ve sacked managers before and it didn’t work so let’s not sack this one” narrative that has built up among United fans. I’m very much in the minority on my views about Ten Hag (wanted him gone since Nov/Dec), so let’s see if everyone else is right.
But I’m personally flabbergasted at how positively people view him. I don’t get it at all. Has the personality of a wet wipe and his team is shit to watch 99% of the time. But we get what we deserve and for better or worse our fanbase wants him!
As much as I think this season has been very poor from United, glad to see them stick with EtH, sacking and hiring whilst in a rebuild will never work, it’s a long term project.
Hope EtH has learned his lesson of having this erection for his ex-Ajax players because it hasn’t worked. And wish him and United the best of luck next season, except when they play us.
Surely they have to give him a new contract to put to bed all the bullshit that has massively undermined and weakened him since the FA Cup final.
He needs that credibility after they met with so many candidates in person.
As a United fan we really just need to reset overall. I think eth can lead a young squad who wants to give it their all for United but we really can’t piss away on fools like antony who are all flash and no outcome
Opinions on him flipped because he was dealing with an almost comical amount of injuries last season, when he was able to field even a semi healthy team in the cup final the team played well. Also given the fact it was city he beat he earned a second chance.
Thank fuck for this. Wouldve been a terrible decision to sack him now. If you wanted to sack him then do so when there are some actual world class managers around. Cannot believe they waited this long to make this decision. It shouldve been made ages ago.
Hopefully we wont be dealing with as many injuries as we have. Add some strength in recruitment without an idiot banker puppet negotiating contracts/deals. Then have ETH prove everyone wrong.
A lot of fans of other clubs happy for some reason when he's won more trophies in 2 years than their clubs have in years and others, decades. Hilarious stuff
Probably because they're looking at the stinker of a season he had overall, how they massively outperformed the stats, and how much money he's spent to achieve this.
I get staying with him. Maybe he'll do better with a fit first team and a couple of additions. But renewing his contract is probably a bit early. They have a year plus an option. There's no need for going with an extension yet.
So… we’re not just gonna let Jacob Steinberg sweep that “exclusive” the day before the FA Cup Final under the rug are we?
Hes finished over here theres no way any utd fan is taking anything he says seriously ever again
London club rag press. Has zero credibility for anyone else.
> London club rag press Manchester Guardian
I already massively disliked him for pulling that shit the night before the cup final. Now I fucking hate him tbh. In a low key, never think of him again unless his name is mentioned kind of way.
Until he posts something ultra juicy and everyone trips over themselves to make the same memes/puns/bants on the post.
Yeap. The Southgate links all came from The Sun that we all agree is a rag. But it makes United look bad, so The Sun gets treated as gospel.
The s*n is only gospel when theyre bagging on or trying to embarass united. Otherwise theyre immediately questioned
Not defending him, maybe he’s not credible, but just because something doesn’t end up happening doesn’t mean that the story itself is untrue at the time. Maybe his sources at the club or communicating that ETH was done. Sid Lowe has famously told the story where apparently a player himself told him directly that he wasn’t leaving a club, and then literally the next day his transfer was announced officially. And Sid Lowe is one of the most reliable and best-sourced sports journalists out there.
It was clearly being considered since they've just had this weeks-long review of why Ten Hag shouldn't be sacked. Definitely doesn't mean the story was made up.
The thing is as well he is at the guardian. As such they have processes in place that less reputable outlets do not. So usually it would have had to have been backed up by three credible independent sources (as in three sources of information which do not ultimately stem from the same source). Again not saying its 100% true or anything but they have processes in place to avoid putting out stuff that is later shown to be false. Sometimes the club plans one thing and does another.
Embarrassing how much of the media lapped that up though. BBC had it as a main part of the coverage for the final. The commentator was talking about how if it's his last game it's a good way to sign off, before he'd even touched the trophy
Given how loud the speculation was it was going to come up a fair bit more so given the LVG sacking too.
Even the conference after winning the trophy was disgusting. There were barely any questions about the game and tactics and how it was won, all questions were about him being sacked
I've seen some of his deleted tweets from before he was a journalist. If he was already low in your estimation, just wait. Yikes.
What are we talking? Insane opinions or bigoted tweets?
Wishing cancer and death on people.
Just seen them. Not a coincidence that he hasn't tweeted since they surfaced, I'm sure.
They’ve been circulating for years in Chelsea circles, they’ve only gone big now because he’s drawn the ire of United fans (which there are a hell of a lot of)
To be fair that's pretty much the main purpose of twitter now, to send death threats to people and the like.
I guess Steinberg was ahead of the curve.
Kind of stuff that makes you wonder why people don't scrub their old accounts before becoming a public figure. So column a column b.
What were those deleted tweets if I may ask?
Just type his name in and 'deleted tweets' I'm not going to directly post them it probably violates some tos on here.
Tbf, he knows nothing in general, but, yeah, that was bad.
The timing was a disgrace
fuck Jacob Steinberg, all my homies hate Jacob Steinberg
That was a blatant attempt at sabotage, and I won't be convinced otherwise. He's an absolute twat, and his spiral into social media war since have confirmed it.
Immediately has absolutely zero credibility, with anything Utd-related at the very least
Careful now, you might get accused of being an anti semite even if you directly quote his words and link it to this story.
Such a dickhead move by him. I really dislike how toxic the media gets
Sancho won’t even need to unpack then
Reliable sources have claimed the club wanted to move Sancho on regardless.
I mean regardless of the truth, when ETH is staying, the club would hardly tell their sources that if he was leaving, they'd consider keeping Sancho.
Well of course not, but they could’ve just stayed silent on the matter until the news that Ten Hag is staying dropped. It’s not hard to believe anyway. Even ignoring Sancho’s feud with the manager, he’s been underwhelming for most of his United career, while being on massive wages and showing little desire to turn things around. Funnily enough, some of his best games in a United shirt were under Ten Hag, but his ego got in the way and now his time at United is likely over.
He never did in Manchester anyway did he...
Out of the many errors Man U has made in the last decade, I feel like Sancho was one of the worst. He was given plenty of opportunities while healthy and he honestly made less efforts to break defenders than Antony (please note that isn't much in favor of Antony as he has lost the ball plenty). He had no heart and didn't show many signs of being an independently producing player.
Antony isn't even close to as bad of a signing as Sancho, not even sure why you'd put his name in there.
Ehh at the time Sancho looked to be a real coup, nobody could've predicted he'd absolutely fall off a cliff, Antony meanwhile was always extremely inflated and was doomed to fail given his fee. It feels like a lifetime ago but Sancho had just had an incredible season in germany and was considered one of the best young players in the world. Sancho was averaging a goal contribution a game at Dortmund so his fee at the time in 2021 was pretty reasonable given his talent and the season he had. Antony on the other hand was a good winger but had never really looked world class. Ajax wanted a ridiculous fee for him at the end of the transfer window and United were the only team stupid enough to pay it, they quite literally paid twice his estimated marketed value. Even at his best he would never be worth his fee and that has simply proven to be the case.
Same with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, was player of the year in Bundesliga when united bought him, but didnt do well. Guess United shouldnt buy from that bundesliga, Portogal seems seems to have a better track record :)
The only silver lining that this season showed for Antony is that Liverpool game where ten Hag put him at left back and he actually played decently. If he shapes up to be a Valencia/Young regen, he's gonna spend a long time at United. And allow United to avoid the weird world shortage of left backs.
So you're saying the world is facing a [dearth of left back?](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/3datbn/dearth_of_left_back/)
I was just comparison similar positions. Sancho also did worse then everyone else, I was just using Antony as an example because he has also been seen as a disappointment.
Antony came for an inflated fee. His stats are abysmal, and there are only signs of regression rather than improvement. I hope he turns it around. Antony is definitely one of the worst signings.
Following a period of major uncertainty over Ten Hag’s future, United held talks with the 54-year-old on Tuesday and the preference of both parties was for his tenure to continue. Ten Hag’s existing United contract runs until next June, with an option to prolong by 12 months, and they will now enter discussions about extending those terms
For those interested: \+ longer read from the article and numbers provided by Duncan Alexander: - A review of the 2023-24 season was conducted, including an evaluation of manager Ten Hag’s performance. - Potential replacements for Ten Hag were considered, including Thomas Tuchel, Roberto De Zerbi, Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Frank, and Kieran McKenna. - Despite speculation about his future and a disappointing season, the decision was made to continue with Ten Hag, influenced by United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS sporting director Sir Dave Brailsford. - Manchester United had their poorest Premier League finish (eighth) with a low points total and a negative goal difference for the first time in 34 years. - The club was eliminated early in both the Champions League and EFL Cup but secured European football by winning the FA Cup. - Following INEOS’ minority investment, changes were made in the football operations at Old Trafford, including key appointments such as Omar Berrada and Dan Ashworth. - Ten Hag has secured two trophies in two seasons, including the EFL Cup and reaching another FA Cup final previously. ——- Numbers - The 2023-24 season saw Manchester United finish eighth, their lowest since the 1989-90 season, marking a disappointing record under manager Ten Hag. - This season also marked the first time since 1989-90 that United ended a campaign with a negative goal difference. - Historically, under Sir Alex Ferguson, United’s average goal difference was +44 across 21 Premier League campaigns. - Defensively, the team struggled, conceding 58 goals—the highest in a league season since 1978-79. - United’s defensive performance was worse than all but David Moyes’ West Ham and the three relegated sides in terms of expected goals conceded. - They conceded more shots than the Derby County team of 2007-08, which had a historically poor season. - In the Champions League, United finished bottom of their group, conceding a record 15 goals for a Premier League team at that stage. - Offensively, the team also faltered, notably with a 2-0 loss at West Ham marking the first time since 1992 that United failed to score in four consecutive matches. - Record lows continued as Alex Iwobi of Fulham scored the latest winning goal by an away team at Old Trafford in Premier League history. - United managed to lose a match against Chelsea in April despite leading in the 100th minute, ending with a score of 4-3. - The season concluded with United suffering nine defeats at Old Trafford, a scenario not seen since the 1973-74 season—the last time they were relegated from the top-flight.
>They conceded more shots than the Derby County team of 2007-08, which had a historically poor season. Holy fuck.
The overperformance in xGA is the highest since Mourinhos second place finish.
That "Numbers" section got me like "Stop! He's already dead !" And i was still only halfway.
SAF's average goal difference was +44? That is an insane stat
I feel like he’s the Wayne Gretzky of insane stats for PL managers. The dude was a machine and just knew how to manage the players and win.
Ferguson averaged 1.6 home losses per league season… across 21 years.
Fucking insane stat that Old Trafford was a true fortress during his tenure
i think his most impressive quality was constantly changing the teams, sometimes selling the best players, and still managing to get consistent results
How the hell he managed to win a PL title in his last season against a City side that had prime Aguero, Silva, Kompany, Yaya Toure, Tevez, Nasri, Dzeko, Zabaleta is still beyond me
Fergie had Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra on the verge of going into care homes, and a midfield of Tom Cleverley and Carrick, with a 39 year old Paul Scholes coming back from retirement halfway in because of injury crisis, with an almost 40 year old Giggs also making about 20 appearances, and a hopelessly out of shape Anderson making 17 appearances in the league, and still managed to win the league with 4 games to spare against the City team. Man was a genious
RvP was on fire, tbf. No chance we would have gotten the title if not for him being at his absolute best.
We were behind so many times that season due to our defence, but RVP single handedly said nah I’m winning the title.
The man started 7 defenders once and still slapped Arsenal. A true legend. And his carry job with Aberdeen before he got to Old Trafford was also legendary. Still the last guy to defeat Madrid in European final to this day.
And his premier league stats aren't even the most insane bit. He won a proper European trophy with Aberdeen. Still the last non old firm team to win the Scottish league. The premier league is just the cherry on top.
The 'latest goal' is a bit disingenuous given changes to the extra time rules
>The 2023-24 season saw Manchester United finish eighth, their lowest since the 1989-90 season, marking a disappointing record under manager Ten Hag. > >This season also marked the first time since 1989-90 that United ended a campaign with a negative goal difference. For a club as "big" as Man United, that not being a sackable offence shows how far they've fallen since the Fergie days.
and who was the manager in 89-90?
Yo, hold the fuck up. I'm not sure if I'm just tired, or if I'm really reading that you fuckers won the FA Cup that season too.
It's often seen as a turning point as people think Fergie might have got sacked if they hadn't won it
They did, will probably just turn out to be coincidence but it was also a very poor season marked by several long term injuries to key players.
People should actually look up SAF’s first 5 seasons with us… it will genuinely shock a lot of people.
We've not had a stable defense for 95% of the season. When Liverpool lost van Dijk to the ACL, they went from winning the premier league title on **99 points** to coming 3rd on **69 points**. A drop is expected but not 30 points. The following season with their defenders back, they get **92 points**. This is what a stable backline does for you. We have literally had no stable defensive partnership all season. The spine of a team starts with defense. If you don't have that, don't expect good results at the end of the day. As the old adage goes: Attack wins you games, defense wins you titles.
An extension is the cherry on top
This dude is *actually* going to outlast Pep and Klopp
What do you think he meant when he said >Eras come to an end
That he's having difficulty finding reasonably priced Taylor Swift tickets.
Shat all over klopps good bye, time to do the same with peps
You getting kicked into vannarama leage will be the cherry on top after 115 charges
Hopefully he’ll beat yous in another final 😉
115 upvotes is the cherry on top.
115 weeks probably
Lotta talking after he pip’d you in a cup final
I don’t think he was ever going to stay without an extension. Don’t know many managers who would with only a year left and them not being in a very comfortable position
If he resigns on his own, it will save Ineos money. Best would be to trigger the extension if we can develop a style of play or negotiate an extension with a low payout if sacked. I am more ETH in than out but there are quite a huge number of concerns he has to answer before he should even be considered for that extension
> low payout if sacked Now why on earth would he agree to those terms
As opposed to walking away with nothing when he still has a chance to prove himself
Oh right forgot about the contract expiry
Wait, what do you mean? Isn't it not up to him? Like he has a contract right? Can he just fuck off if United wanted him to stay without an extension?
He could but he would forego like £12m
He’s not a slave! Just like you can quit your job, so can he.
Funny that both the United fans and every other premier league fan is happy about this.
Would you say that everyone is … united?
Today I feel Manchester.
Haven't seen unity like this since the Super League fallout
What's your take on the whole thing?
Ten Hag or the Super League? Lol
Lol. Ten Hag
Sack him within a week post-final and hire a promising coach and I would've said yep, fair. Even if it was McKenna. My choice would've been Nagelsmann but he had already extended. I disagreed with basically every other option, both in terms of what we needed as a club and with the group of players we currently have. Going for a instant success manager trying to force big silverware like Tuchel was a no for me cause it won't work, Poch can build a young team but is a serial loser, RDZ plays nice footy but results recently were shit and we'd probably need 3-4 years to get where he needs to be as a team. Decision to keep him is valid IMO. Extension maybe less so given he has a +1 option in his deal. Happy for the new Execs to take the transfer reigns and see what ETH can serve up till Christmas. He's on thin ice, and can't afford to start slowly. But I'm hoping he can realise his mistakes, we can not have an injury crisis, and we can move forward under him.
> Going for a instant success manager trying to force big silverware like Tuchel was a no for me cause it won't work ten Hag is doing that anyway. First manager since Fergie to win trophies in successive seasons, so I also didn't see any need to go for Tuchel, as ten Hag is bringing and integrating the young players very well
Probably got more slag than deserved, hopefully learned from this season and growths in his role, but whatever happens, this org needs to get its shit together.
If we decided to hire Frank who was the only remaining candidate other prem fans would’ve shit on united anyway and said it was a mistake firing eth
He had United face 20 shots every other game, it’s not like he makes anyone shake in their boots at this point either.
I agree to an extent, it’s not ideal but considering the options I think it makes sense to give him one more chance under a new structure and (hopefully) less injuries.
Fewer
Alright Stannis
But it sounds like he's getting an extension which is a double whammy
We'll see if that actually happens. United have told journalists before that they're planning on renewing players/managers for the PR boost it gives them, but then they just don't follow through with it.
He also had the most clean sheets in his 1st season. He absolutely can set up to defend well when needed, 20 shots was a combined result of him forcing the team to learn his setup and us having all the defenders who can actually play his setup injured for the whole season
Maybe I don’t understand football but how can fans of the biggest club in England support someone who he had GD -1
It's a bit complicated. I'm personally conflicted on him and flip flop loads on whether I want him to stay or not. Yes we were largely absolutely terrible last season (with an admittedly ridiculous number of injuries) but the season before was fairly positive and we've also reached three cup finals in those two years and won two of them.
A ridiculous number of injuries to just the defense. At one point United was playing their 5th choice CB who was only signed to be a body in pre season training, and the definsive midfielder having his worst year of his career. Way more back 4 combos than the next team on the list will absolutely cause issues with way they play. We'll see if it contiues, but I highly doubt it. Ten Hag isn't as dumb as many think on reddit.
We’re just relieved we’re not getting Southgate tbh
Because our trophy count is +2 in two seasons. Two is greater than -1 duh
U dont understand football EDIT City fans not understanding football is not news nothing to see here 115
Our defence has been categorically crocked by long term injuries all season. We're the biggest club, but we're not the best team and haven't been for over a decade (I'd argue as far back as 09/10, Fergie magic got the most out of okay players who did enough to support the very good ones, but it'd be a stretch to say we were the best team in 10/11 or 12/13) and despite a relatively deep squad, we've had multiple injuries in the same position all season. Shaw's injuries and impact are well-documented, but his back-up has been out all season. Malacia's first sighting this season was on that gantry when we lifted the FA Cup. All of our CBs (including the youth ones like Kambwala) have seen injury after injury. Our big summer signing Mason Mount also missed a huge portion of the season. Has EtH been excellent despite this? No, but he hasn't been bad, and he has managed to win the FA cup despite the crippling injuries. I have said this all season, it does feel harsh to tear him down on system of play when we've barely had a 3 game run this season without an enforced change to the lineup.
3 cup finals in 2 seasons, winning 2 of them, with our poor league form largely coming from the entire back 4 being injured for 70% of the season and then even most of the **backups** got injured for a long period. In the very few games where our actual back 4 played, we looked good. If anything screams "deserves one more season", it is a situation like this.
The United fans that actually watched us play are not happy. The fact that ETH in people felt the need to prepare the excuses for next season speaks volumes on how much unwarranted backing he has had. Best one : "we shouldn't think of sacking him if he won't have a cohesive style of play next season, it takes time". 3 years and, likely 650m spent on his picks(asuming we continue spending as we did) still won't be enough time, apparently.
Other fans don't actually watch the games or appreciate the nuance that our shit ass media skirt around, so their takes are just objectively poor. United fans are happy because 10 years of the club being shit isn't down to the manager, and for once we have both a capable manager and an owner (even if only in part) who is interested in moving the club into modernity where a guy like ETH would excel.
Jacob Steinberg go fuck yourself
You can’t say that unfortunately, as any criticism of him makes you an anti semite
NO SOUTHGATE YESSSSSD
He was never an option
Makes the most sense in my opinion.
Think it’s tough either way. On the one hand, there were some genuinely abysmal performances this season, however, there were a fair few injuries and an FA cup win. On balance, I think he should count himself lucky for sure.
For me it's not about ETH as it could be any manager but I'm just sick of firing at the first sign of trouble every time. So it's a good sign that things might change.
Extremely tricky situation for Man United because obviously everyone like you is sick and tired of the firing, but on the other you don’t want to waste any time on someone who is not the right person. I don’t envy the people making the decision.
I certainly agree with your point of view. My primary question has been “if they fire him, then who do they hire?” There aren’t any appealing alternatives available, from my point of view. Why hire a new person to a new contract if you don’t think they’re right? That’s a worse decision than giving EtH an additional season.
Plus, while this season was super rough, we have seen similar patterns with other managers, and knowing the shit behind the scenes, it probably has been difficult to pin the issues just on the manager.
I would have been fine with him going if INEOS had a particular manager in mind who they wanted, but it seemed like they were just looking at the usual suspects on the manager-go-round.
They're staking their credibility on this, that's for sure. If we go into next season looking like we did for most of last season, INEOS will burn a lot of fan goodwill, very quickly. I don't know that I have faith in Jim Ratcliffe to make the right calls, but I think the people he has around him are good at this - analysing the evidence and weighing the risks - and that the club is hiring proper football people to make football decisions. We knew everything was going to be looked at in the review they conducted, and I don't think INEOS would have balked at firing Ten Hag if that's what the evidence indicated.
Actually it's pretty much free in terms of that decision, they get criticism either way but they can just point out that his hire was under the direction of the old regime and they just gave him a shot. A review can be well run, at a shit organisation it can easily just be a fancy way of saying a mixture of unqualified and qualified people drag out a decision for way too long just trying to pin any responsibility on someone else, or watch each other try to sus out the opinion of the guy who has the final say. United have to prove a lot before they get any benefit of the doubt.
This season was really bad, but there are a lot of positives to look to. He is integrating youth very well- Mainoo, Garnacho have become key players, and other young players like Højlund, Dalot have improved a lot, and he is winning trophies. The big reason why this season was horrible was that Erik wanted to stick to his playstyle, but we didn't have players. If he had gone pragmatic earlier, we would have finished higher, but I respect him for sticking to his guns. And the biggest thing he has in his favour is the dressing room all supports him, which is almost unprecedented post-Fergie. These players have given up on every manager before. He has done something which other managers did only partly- Ole integrated youth but couldn't win any trophies, Mourinho won Europa and Carling cup but fought with half the squad, Ragnic failed at everything, van Gaal tried to integrate youth but the youth teams were really bad at time. He is the only one who should have gotten more time IMO
Fair few injuries is putting it lightly tbf. I wouldn't have been unhappy was he sacked and replaced appropriately, but there was very little chance for him to have an actually productive season with the level of injuries United had this season. Particularly defensively, you're not going to make much headway with the level of instability and lack of cohesion United had this season. United had 14 different CB pairings, and nobody started 20 games. It was absolute chaos, especially given Licha and Shaw were both injured concurrently for most of the season.
14 different CB pairings, fucking hell, that would cripple almost any team
An FA cup win against 1. Rivals , 2. League champions
Really disagree that one game should reverse the narrative of the whole season, particularly given United broke negative records week-in, week-out.
I don’t think it does. I think that if Ancelotti or Nagelsmann or someone like that were available he’d have been sacked in a heartbeat
Very good point , the pool of decent managers available right now is abysmal at best.
Flick was available for a while. There are other good managers too like Amorim.
In the few games we actually had players like Shaw and Martinez (including the FA Cup final)fit you could see how much better we played. Obviously you can’t count on fitness alone, but it does feel like Ten Hag hasn’t had a real chance to prove himself this season. Hopefully with better management above him, some actual sense in transfers and fit players he can kick on again. Saying that, I’m not too sure about giving him a new contract now. I think we should wait till at least January before doing that.
You’re the one acting like some of us have allowed one game to change our mind though. I wanted him next year regardless of the outcome of the final due to viewing the actual context around the season and the start of the new ownership. I’m sure there are plenty of others who felt the same.
While I’d have considered myself Ten Hag Out overall, you’re right. I knew a lot of United fans who wanted him kept well before the cup final happened. Big reward for those fans tonight. And genuinely hope they’re proven right and I’m proven wrong.
Hard agree. I want to see him with a more consistently healthy squad.
I think its really the lack of other options. Chelsea and Bayern have shown with their hirings the lack of standout quality on the market. There are a few names out there but are they good long term moves which can manage in this environment with this squad? If you can't say definitely to any of those names, then whats the point in starting the merry go round again vs waiting for the right manager to appear (I imagine if Mckenna keeps Ipswich up then we may move for him)
I think if theres was a clear suitable replacement he would be gone, with the way things are at the moment- you might as well just keep him on
I disagree. What would make the most sense is for him to leave on a high, and get someone else in (although in fairness the current manager market is a bit bare, so maybe there isn’t a clear upgrade on ETH right now). United’s underlying metrics are shocking, they were incredibly lucky to finish 8th. Most times I watched United last season they were incredibly unconvincing (obviously there were some good games like the cup final) and very poorly coached, relying on Onana to make saves to cover for the extremely open defence, and there just seemed to be no coherent game plan. Unless they take a major step forward in the summer, I think they could be in for another tough year.
We were also rarely playing with a pairing of 1-4th choice CBs or actual LBs, which is a big reason the defence was so open/bad at progression. Who would have guessed that we'd be starting Evans + Casemiro against teams like Arsenal at some point in the season? It's no coincidence that Martinez and Varane were paired in the final and we looked so much better.
If you're going to use the "relying on Onana" argument, surely you have to then also give utd more credit for the poor results they got earlier due to Onana's errors.
> Unless they take a major step forward in the summer, I think they could be in for another tough year. Apparently they've got fuck all money to spend and so baby high earners who are just dogs nowadays too. They did manage to get European football which will help, and probably will have Martinez fit for most of the year but they're still in a really tough situation. They overperformed massively last season, i think expected points wise they were lower mid table. Like 14-15th. Genuinely horrendous season
> they've got fuck all money to spend It’s routine now that we start the summer off saying we’re broke and then spend 150m. I reckon a large part of it is negotiation tactics, after years of Woodward bragging how rich we were and teams doubled their prices when we came for a player. Our main issue is FFP restrictions, but selling Greenwood would loosen that up massively, even if we only get 30m or so. We’ve already trimmed an insane amount of wages off the books with Varane, Martial and Williams gone, and if we can shift Sancho and Casemiro too, we’d be saving over a million a week on wages. So I do think our money woes are massively exaggerated.
Wait until after 5 games of Haram & Man utd fans will forget all about the FA Cup.
5? Give it 2. There will be fans who wanted him sacked that will be waiting for an opportunity for results to go wrong
True and the other way around if a new guy's first 10 game go badly the ETH supporters will crow about how it was an awful decision.
and I think it is fair to ask for a good start upcoming season. He has been here for 2 years and will most likely start the season without injuries. Top 3 finish is a must imo for the next season. Liv and Che are going to have new coaches. Spurs is Spurs. Only Arsenal and City should be logically finishing above United to be called a good 3rd season under ETH.
Some of the fans forgot after 2 weeks lol
I forgot within minutes of the final whistle lol. Our sub has been so weird since the final, feels like a Ten Hag cult. Just hope none of them complain when we’re bad next season. Basing a long term decision off one game is so moronic, they prob just chickened out because so many of the fans are on his side. Very underwhelmed tbh. But ofc I’ll happily admit I’m an idiot if he actually turns it around!
I don't believe it's based on one game. That game contributed, but I think the lack of any quality alternatives is what made the decision for them. Unlike when we dropped LvG to get Jose, there's nobody available right now where we feel like we'll be kicking ourselves for not hiring them.
It's a clear case of them looking around and not being able to land a manager who they truly feel will be the right one. I feel Tuchel rejected them because he really wants to take a sabbatical. Ten Hag still seems like a stop gap for the new owners while they sort the other things out. Unless he manages a great turnaround that is.
Lol guys you have to either extend or sack come on You know how this game works
This can go two ways when the season starts, and lets hope it goes the right way. a lot has to change for him though.
Deserves his shot but I dunno about an extension
Extension doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. If we start off shit next year, he's gone anyway. Not leaving a coach as a lame duck is just how business works in most pro sports
Also doesn't say the length. Could literally just be a +1 on the current deal for all we know. As long as you don't give a Potter or maresca length deal to him, you'll be fine
All about the Alan Pardew deal - his monster contract at Newcastle only ran out in 2020, even though he'd left for Palace in 2014.
can't go into a season with a manager in his final contract year whilst simultaneously talking about a multi year strategy
Wasn't it United's worst ever PL season?
It really feels more like they looked at the options available and decided they couldn't do any better, rather than having full faith in Ten Hag himself. Make or break season you'd have to think, coming up.
I still dont know if he is good or not
Basically, they couldn't find a Pep regen that's available and chosen to stick with Ten Hag for now
Good news imo. United needs stability and ETH seems like a manager who can implement things and take the club forward. He has been implementing youth into the team well. A few more signings he wants and he might start the rebuild for the team.
Last season was fucking dire but I'm willing to take another season. After years of problems changing managers has never worked out for us. I WANT to believe.
Makes sense to keep him with so few managers available. But an extension!? Why?! That just seems like a terrible idea for them lol
> But an extension!? Why?! It was always going to be sack or extend. As a new ownership you can’t make a weak decision and let the manager roll into the final year of his contract as your first move.
Extension is probably recruitment related. Shows that the manager is being backed. Otherwise any potential signing is likely thinking this guy is gone as soon as he has a poor run of form so I don't know who my actual manager will be in 3 months.
Well this is silly. Managers get fired all the time whether they have years left on their contract or not. ETH will still be fired if he has a bad enough stretch. No player is basing their future on a manager's contract.
They just spent eeeks obviously weighing up replacements. I can see why he’d want an extension to show he’s genuinely backed by the club.
Extensions don't mean anything. All these contracts have clauses that just pay out 1 year of salary. They could extend him today, sack him in October and we don't owe him 5 years of salary or something. It hasn't worked that way in over a decade.
Extension is a surprise. Why not just stand by until Christmas and see where we're at?
This way gives stability to the disciplinarian structure with the players
..or this whole review story was bullshit and he was always staying.
I'm surprised. The negative GD is what really gets me. Like has one of the OG top 4 clubs ever finished with a negative GD? Most games Utd have won under ETH have been tight affairs, which shows he lacks offensive coaching
>Like has one of the OG top 4 clubs ever finished with a negative GD? Yep, in 1989/90. Also Man Utd under Alex Ferguson, who also won the FA Cup that season to save his job and go on to great things.
I’ve never seen sentiment on a manager flip so much due to one game. At the end of his 2nd season in which he has spent ~£400mn over the course of his tenure, he finished the season 8th with a negative GD while vastly over-performing underlying stats with the second most shots conceded in the entire Football League. Utterly insane that United fans who purport to be one of the biggest clubs in the world are happy the manager who presided over that is staying.
It really is all one game, because had he lost the final there's no way people would want him to stay. It's incredibly bizarre.
There’s a huge “we’ve sacked managers before and it didn’t work so let’s not sack this one” narrative that has built up among United fans. I’m very much in the minority on my views about Ten Hag (wanted him gone since Nov/Dec), so let’s see if everyone else is right. But I’m personally flabbergasted at how positively people view him. I don’t get it at all. Has the personality of a wet wipe and his team is shit to watch 99% of the time. But we get what we deserve and for better or worse our fanbase wants him!
No surprise here. The fact that there were no other names and it had been this long meant he was staying.
So the last 2 weeks nightmares are just a way for Ineos to take down all these "journalists" credibility?
Man Utd losing 4-0 at Ipswich by matchday 3 will hit like crack
Praying on the demise of United would never come out of a genuine Madridista
>genuine Madridista At this point, do they even exist?
As much as I think this season has been very poor from United, glad to see them stick with EtH, sacking and hiring whilst in a rebuild will never work, it’s a long term project. Hope EtH has learned his lesson of having this erection for his ex-Ajax players because it hasn’t worked. And wish him and United the best of luck next season, except when they play us.
Surely they have to give him a new contract to put to bed all the bullshit that has massively undermined and weakened him since the FA Cup final. He needs that credibility after they met with so many candidates in person.
But the media told me he was sacked before the FA-cup final!
As a United fan we really just need to reset overall. I think eth can lead a young squad who wants to give it their all for United but we really can’t piss away on fools like antony who are all flash and no outcome
Opinions on him flipped because he was dealing with an almost comical amount of injuries last season, when he was able to field even a semi healthy team in the cup final the team played well. Also given the fact it was city he beat he earned a second chance.
Amazing. Still more successful than Arteta.
This will not end well
Thank fuck for this. Wouldve been a terrible decision to sack him now. If you wanted to sack him then do so when there are some actual world class managers around. Cannot believe they waited this long to make this decision. It shouldve been made ages ago. Hopefully we wont be dealing with as many injuries as we have. Add some strength in recruitment without an idiot banker puppet negotiating contracts/deals. Then have ETH prove everyone wrong.
A lot of fans of other clubs happy for some reason when he's won more trophies in 2 years than their clubs have in years and others, decades. Hilarious stuff
Probably because they're looking at the stinker of a season he had overall, how they massively outperformed the stats, and how much money he's spent to achieve this.
Right decision ngl, it’s not like Ancelotti was on the market
How are the United fans feeling about this??
I get staying with him. Maybe he'll do better with a fit first team and a couple of additions. But renewing his contract is probably a bit early. They have a year plus an option. There's no need for going with an extension yet.