'Not the case' - Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand react to Erik ten Hag's sacking by Manchester United
Manchester United have made a significant managerial decision
Gary Neville has said he saw Erik ten Hag’s sacking coming following Manchester United’s decision to sack their manager on Monday. The Red Devils lost 2-1 away at West Ham on Sunday afternoon.
They are now in the hunt for a new boss and will be weighing up their options. Ruud van Nistelrooy has been placed in caretaker charge until a permanent successor is sounded out.
Former United defender Neville has said on Sky Sports: “I thought it was coming. Looking at Tottenham, I thought I'd seen this before and know how it ends. It was a bad day for Ten Hag, everybody thought that would be the day we would kick on, but it's got worse. Missing chances yesterday was unacceptable, the decision was a bad one.
“The challenges of the performances, the owners have decided to sack Ten Hag, I don't think anybody will be shocked. There will be those that say they have been proven right, fans wanted to continue with Ten Hag, give him an opportunity to succeed under a new structure.”
He added: “The shock has been how bad they've been, the new signings, to get a good performance and some stability. 14th? It's unacceptable. The spend that's occurred. I was hoping it would end differently, the faith shown in him would pay off, but it's not the case.
“I suspect that Tottenham game would be a catalyst to look for a new manager, being in that position, you look who's available, being diligent and then think of the timing. In our position, you're hoping the manager will turn it around, start to win matches, 99/100 when you've made the decision, the tide's against you, it continues to go against you, they decided the next big loss, they'd have to act. They started, I'm sure, after Tottenham, it felt like the end. Even if it wasn't actually the end.”
‘Taken so long’...
Meanwhile, ex-United centre-back Rio Ferdinand has posted on X: "I look at INEOS... did they back themselves into a corner with the way they handled stuff in the summer?
"Retrospectively, I think they'll look back and go 'you know we could've handled it differently, handled it better.' I think having a manager in place and actively looking for new managers and it becoming public knowledge isn't a great way to do it. But one win in eight games for Ten Hag, it isn't great. I don't think he or anyone else will be surprised with this.
"My big thing is it's taken so long, one of the main best candidates sitting out there was Thomas Tuchel and he's gone now.
"I think Man United have been looking at that and [are now] maybe saying 'is that one that got away?' Does Ruud [van Nistelrooy] come in to be their next line and be their safety net, be the safety blanket, that they were talking [about] and envisaged before? Was it always the plan for Ruud van Nistelrooy to come in and be the guy to come in and take over the reins?"