MANCHESTER UNITED sacking Erik ten Hag, at last, was the easy part.
Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to West Ham – leaving the Red Devils FOURTEENTH in the Premier League, with just 11 points from nine games – proved to be the final straw.
Ten Hag’s United didn’t just lose consistently, they were thrashed consistently.
Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Brighton and Brentford are among the teams to have demolished his outfit.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s most famous three-word team talk — “Lads, it’s Tottenham” — could now be turned on its head by Ange Postecoglou or several other Premier League bosses.
“Lads, it’s Man United.”
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Facing United hasn’t held a fear factor for many years.
Now, it is a fixture openly relished by many — a big-name scalp which is relatively easy to come by.
There has been a regular cycle of doom around Old Trafford for the last 11 years, under six different managers.
United are trounced on a Sunday afternoon, Gary Neville and Roy Keane rant on the telly, everyone speculates on the manager’s future on a Monday.
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Managers come and go, many players linger for too long, and United continue to be largely terrible.
Yet under Ten Hag — who offered little as a coach or man-manager — the bad days got even worse.
It was the wrong decision for Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos crew to keep faith with the former Ajax boss after last season’s FA Cup win.
And then to have signed another tranche of overpriced Dutch players.
At last, Ratcliffe and his fellow Old Trafford chiefs have seen sense.
So now for the hard part. Who, realistically, takes over?
And, more pertinently, who would want to?
This is a mid-table squad at an underachieving club, with a lot of unwanted players on big money.
Emery wouldn’t take United job – he’s not stark raving mad
And Ratcliffe is an instinctive cost-cutter who may not pay top dollar to the next manager.
If this club wasn’t called ‘Manchester United’, it wouldn’t be an especially desirable job.
The good news for United is that their new sporting director, Dan Ashworth, is a very decent judge of a manager.
He has been instrumental in three previous managerial appointments — Gareth Southgate for England, Graham Potter for Brighton and Eddie Howe for Newcastle.
None were wildly popular at the time, all were conspicuous successes.
Interestingly, Ashworth’s No 1 choice for the Newcastle job was Unai Emery, who turned him down to stay at Villarreal but has since proved that judgment right by excelling at Aston Villa.
Who could replace Ten Hag at Man Utd?
ERIK TEN HAG has finally been put out of his Manchester United misery – but who will be the manager to lead them into the future?
Ruud van Nistelrooy
The Red Devils legend, 48, is no stranger to the pressures of Old Trafford.
Van Nistelrooy scored 150 goals in 219 games for Man Utd and helped them to the 2002-03 Premier League title.
The striker also starred for another monster club, Real Madrid, as a player before going into coaching.
The 70-cap ex-Holland international managed PSV’s youth team before landing the senior job for the 2022-23 season.
Van Nistelrooy landed a coaching job under Ten Hag earlier this year and is said to have done a superb job working with the clubs strikers behind the scenes.
And now he will have the chance to show what he can do in a live ‘interview’ of sorts.
How long the club will give him is another matter.
Gareth Southgate
The former England boss, 54, has long been linked with the Man Utd job.
The former Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough defender has gone on to enjoy great success as a manager – albeit without getting his hands on a major trophy.
Southgate managed Middlesbrough between 2006 and 2009 before taking on the England Under-21s job between 2013 and 2016.
The 57-cap former Three Lions international then took the senior national job, replacing Roy Hodgson.
Southgate brought the nation together as he led England to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, as well as the final of Euro 2020 and Euro 2024.
However, he left his role in the summer following the defeat to Spain and was replaced by Lee Carsley on an interim basis.
Thomas Tuchel – another boss long linked with the Old Trafford job – will take over the reins in 2025.
Southgate has been out of club management for 15 years and a portion of England fans were frustrated by what they deemed a defensive style.
However, his ability to largely galvanise the fan-base and deal with the pressure of one of the biggest jobs in sport with real class would be a huge asset for United.
Edin Terzic
Earlier this month, SunSport revealed Edin Terzic is the shock name on United’s list to replace Ten Hag.
German Terzic took Borussia Dortmund to the Champions League final last season before surprisingly quitting.
He has many admirers at Old Trafford and it would he a smart but unexpected move to go for him if they sack under-fire Ten Hag.
Terzic, 41, did his coaching badges in England, where he was friends with fellow United target Graham Potter, and then worked as Slaven Bilic’s No 2 at West Ham.
He rose to the top in Germany during two spells at Dortmund before he walked away in June.
Graham Potter
The English boss, 49, has been out of work since being axed by Chelsea in April 2023.
Potter excited fans with his attacking approach at Brighton before he was poached by the Blues.
However, he failed to lift Chelsea out of their funk and was given his marching orders.
Potter’s fans include Manchester City mastermind Pep Guardiola.
And there’s no doubt the ex-OstersundS FK and Swansea boss would get United playing on the front foot, something Old Trafford fans have long craved.
Kieran McKenna
Cruelly denied a playing career due to injury, the former Tottenham youth prospect has excelled as a coach.
McKenna, 38, worked as Under-18s coach at both Spurs and Man Utd before landing the top job at Ipswich Town.
The young boss incredibly guided the Tractor Boys to back-to-back promotions, guiding them from League One back to the Premier League, ending the club’s 22-year absence.
McKenna was quickly added to a host of clubs’ wish-lists, including Man Utd, according to reports.
But Ipswich reacted swiftly to offer him a new, long-term contract.
However, his side are yet to win any of their opening nine Premier League games, with four wins and five defeats.
McKenna has Ipswich playing exciting, expansive football – something Man Utd fans crave.
The big question now is whether McKenna opts to jump ship or stay loyal.
Ruben Amorim, Xavi and Thomas Frank are also three names very much believed to be in the running.
Not many options
Emery would be an excellent fit for United — yet there is next to no chance that he would abandon Villa’s Champions League campaign to take the Old Trafford job, not least because he isn’t a stark raving madman.
Howe would be another good candidate to succeed Ten Hag but, although he has become frustrated on Tyneside, the Saudis would surely not allow Ratcliffe to poach Howe, as they reluctantly did with Ashworth.
Potter is available but his Chelsea experience and lack of charisma would make him a tough sell.
Which brings us to Southgate, who remains close with Ashworth and is an excellent man-manager who was seriously considered by United last spring.
Gareth Southgate concern
Yet, despite having led England to two of their three major finals, Southgate’s reputation for over-caution was only enhanced during the Euros.
Mauricio Pochettino, passed over twice by United, is out of the equation having taken the United States job.
Thomas Tuchel was talked about at United’s top target, and would have been a popular and gettable option, but the FA have already beaten United to the German.
Despite having led England to two of their three major finals, Southgate’s reputation for over-caution was only enhanced during the Euros.
Likewise, Roberto De Zerbi, now at Marseille after his brief Brighton stint sparkled then fizzled out.
Kieran McKenna — a gifted former United coach who has won back-to-back promotions with Ipswich Town — is an intriguing candidate but the imminent vacancy may come a year or so too soon.
Marco Silva, the extremely under-rated Fulham boss, has been on United’s radar and should not be discounted.
Replacement needs to succeed
Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim, last season’s ‘next big thing’, was passed over by West Ham as well as Liverpool this summer and is not an easy man to pin down.
Zinedine Zidane, who has taken over from Alan Curbishley as a 20-1 shot for every Premier League job, is a “figurehead” manager and not an Ashworth type.
Ruud van Nistelrooy, the former United goal machine who joined Ten Hag’s coaching team in the summer, will take the reins at interim boss, but surely lacks the experience to take the job full-time.
And United would be wise to avoid another Ole Gunnar Solskjaer situation.
So, yes, getting rid of Ten Hag was the easy part.
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For Ratcliffe, Ashworth and the rest of United’s new management structure, the hard part is what happens next.
And it is a decision they desperately need to nail.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
