‘I don’t care’ - Erik ten Hag responds to Sir Jim Ratcliffe comments about his Man Utd future

Erik ten Hag has said he ‘doesn’t care’ that Sir Jim Ratcliffe failed to fully back him during last week’s round of introductory media interviews.

The 71-year-old addressed several media outlets following the news that his minority stake in Manchester United had been officially confirmed. As part of the wide-ranging Q&A, Ratcliffe was asked about Ten Hag’s position as manager and didn’t exactly give a ringing endorsement of his time at Old Trafford.

“I’m not going to comment on the job he’s done because that would be inappropriate,” said the Ineos lead shareholder.

"If you look at the 11 years that have gone since David Gill and Sir Alex [Ferguson] have stepped down, there have been a whole series of coaches, some of which were very good - and none of them were successful, or survived for very long. You can't blame all the coaches.

“But we’ve made some quite difficult decisions in our time in business,” he added. “We’ll just be logical about it, assess the facts and make a fair judgement. We're not a brutal organisation really. But sometimes you do have to make decisions, that may not be popular.”

Speculation has subsequently increased that Ratcliffe is already assessing potential new appointments, especially in the wake of Saturday’s dismal display in the 2-1 defeat against Fulham. But Ten Hag insisted he is taking no notice of any media reports and is confident in his position at the club.

“So I'm here. I'm under contract for three seasons, so I don't care. I'm only focusing on the process, so I don't care what's going on around me. I have many talks with Sir Jim Radcliffe, also with Sir Dave Brailsford and others in that group, so I know where we are talking about and I have a strong belief and I feel that they believe in me.

“That [speculation] is for you, for the fans to talk about maybe. If you talk about one defeat and the manager's position is in discussion, I think it's quite opportune after two months without a defeat. I can't pick something from this, I can't take it serious.”

Asked if he feels like he is on trail between now and the end of the season, Ten Hag replied: “No, but I want to win every game. As I just said, I've had many talks, consistently we have talks, and we're talking about the future together.