After weeks of deliberation, Manchester United’s new sporting owners have made a call about their men’s first team managerial position; Erik ten Hag stays.
Artwork by Charbak Dipta
Yes, two trophies in two seasons makes for quite the narrative for this fallen-giant, waterfall-boasting circus of a footballing institution, but with United entering the off-season on the back of their lowest Premier League finish in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, can we really say that one good underdog performance is worth ignoring the other dross?
It’s not. Like the last Dutch manager before him who won the FA Cup at Old Trafford, Ten Hag would—many would say, should—have been dismissed after the season gone by in another time. This time, however, his cup lift has arrived timely with a strike of fortune that sees United sticking with him not because they want to, but because they have to.
An organisation of the size and ambitions of Man United ought to have a succession plan in place for these managerial roles. But given this is modern-day Man United, under a new ownership no less, you better believe there is no such thing.
Not for the lack of trying, however. This is a reputation-laundering project for Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS as well, and they want the fans on side. Having made promises of making football-savvy decisions, they are trying to go about things the right way, having roped in some promising names to fix that hollow shell of United’s sporting hierarchy we have all come to love to take the mick out of. Jason Wilcox (technical director) has arrived from Southampton and Omar Berrada (CEO) from Man City—not bad for a club known to have no plans in place.
United remain without a sporting director, however, and are willing to wait out for Dan Ashworth, who is currently put on gardening leave by Newcastle United as they try to negotiate a compensation fee. This is a problem.
The sporting directorship is tasked with setting up the coaching structure at a…
Source link : https://www.footballparadise.com/manchester-united-and-erik-ten-hag-standing-but-on-flimsy-foundations/
Author : Anshuman Joshi
Publish date : 2024-06-25 14:00:00
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