Man Utd insider reveals INEOS’ Ten Hag sack plan after crisis meeting on Tuesday

Joe Williams
Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS took control of football operations earlier this year.

Man Utd “would like to wait until closer to January” before they sack Erik ten Hag after Tuesday’s showdown meeting, according to a club insider.

The Red Devils have made a terrible start to the new Premier League season with Ten Hag’s side currently sitting 14th in the league table.

Man Utd have won just two of their opening seven Premier League fixtures, taking just eight points and scoring just five goals.

INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe put their faith into Ten Hag over the summer by extending his deal but he is now under severe pressure to improve their performances and results.

Man Utd club executives, including Ratcliffe, held a meeting on Tuesday with some reports claiming that Ruud van Nistelrooy is ready to fill in if they choose to sack Ten Hag.

Ahead of the meeting, Ten Hag insisted that everyone was “on the same page” and added: “We always talk, every week. I would say every day we talk so, yeah, I expect I will speak with them.”

Pushed on them being in the bottom of half following United’s worst start to a Premier League season after seven games, Ten Hag said: “I think you said it very good – it is external noise.

“Internal we are disappointed and we know we need to do better, especially we need to score more because in this moment after this block of games that’s the area we’re really short.”

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And now former Man Utd chief scout Mick Brown is hearing that the Red Devils are likely to hold fire on sacking Ten Hag until nearer Christmas.

“They’ve got a load of players who somebody’s got to come in and deal with,” Brown told Football Insider.

“I’m not so sure that the likes of Allegri and Tuchel, people like that, would want that lot. So they’re governed by the transfer window and when they can make some changes.

“I’ve heard the club would like to wait until closer to January before they pull the trigger on Ten Hag so any new boss can have the transfer window.

“But circumstances may be that they’re forced to pull the trigger early.

“Ideally, it would be closer to January and around the Christmas period and if they wanted to make the call then the new manager could bring in his own players.

“Results will need to pick up though because the pressure is on and they could be forced to make a decision earlier than that.”