Man Utd and Ten Hag reporting goes through the floor with ‘toxic’ warning
Man Utd are largely still the only show in town but things are getting so desperate that Sir Jim Ratcliffe advertising for a PA is a ‘KEY EVENT’.
The Approval
Even with the Mirror‘s low standards this is egregious headline work on their LIVE Man Utd blog:
Man Utd saga LIVE: Erik ten Hag ‘fate decided’ at meeting as Jim Ratcliffe approves arrival
We had to scroll down a hell of a long way – almost 24 hours, which somewhat stretches the use of the word LIVE – to find Ratcliffe ‘approving an arrival’.
Obviously we know it’s not a new manager – Mediawatch is many things but it is not naive – but we perhaps expected a new scout, physio, set-piece analyst, masseur of billionaire egos.
It’s even described as a ‘KEY EVENT’ so we know it’s big…
Manchester United are seeking a personal assistant for their senior leadership team as Sir Jim Ratcliffe continues to make changes and appointments at Old Trafford.
United posted a job advertisement for a PA to help the club’s leadership team, which includes Ratcliffe, sporting director Sir Dave Brailsford, Berrada, Ashworth and Wilcox.
The role will involve scheduling meetings for staff, booking their travel and accommodation, handling invoices and providing support for events on matchdays.
KEY EVENT indeed. And headline news. If you’re a ****.
Get Lucky
‘Proving Roy Keane wrong could be Erik ten Hag’s last chance at Manchester United’, says the Manchester Evening News, which is one hell of a long-arsed, click-tastic way of saying that they probably need to start winning some home games.
Meanwhile, Chief Manchester United Writer Samuel Luckhurst promises to answer the question on all naive Manchester United fans’ lips: ‘Why Manchester United are ignoring questions on Erik ten Hag’s future’.
You will be unsurprised to learn that Luckhurst utterly fails to give an explanation to the simplest of conundrums, even though it seems blindingly obvious to Mediawatch.
‘United have totally ignored the question their millions of supporters are asking: is the manager staying or going?’
They have ignored the question because there is clearly no definitive answer: Our best guess is that he is staying ‘for now’. Who the actual f*** would release a statement to that effect?
That’s succinctly ‘why Manchester United are ignoring questions on Erik ten Hag’s future’ in a nutshell.
‘United failed to banish the uncertainty surrounding Ten Hag by retaining him and extending his contract. At the time of writing, they cannot bring themselves to clarify he is staying again when nipping it in the bud would be in everyone’s interests.
‘Particularly Ten Hag’s.’
Would it? Would it help Ten Hag in the slightest if Manchester United ‘brought themselves’ to acknowledge that results have been poor but said they would give him more time?
It would certainly help Samuel Luckhurst, which is not quite the same thing.
While he offers the illusion of answering questions about why Manchester United have been silent, all he actually does is whimper and whine that he hasn’t been told anything and that a different ‘favoured journalist’ (The Athletic‘s David Ornstein) was likely to be given the news first. Hard to see why.
Mediawatch notes, by the way, that Luckhurst’s claim three days ago that ‘Manchester United are lining up Thomas Tuchel as a potential replacement for Erik ten Hag’ has been downgraded somewhat to Ratcliffe ‘is understood to like the possibility of Thomas Tuchel taking over’. Not quite the same, is it, Samuel?
And presumably not related to the Athletic and their ‘favoured journalists’ pooh-poohing the story earlier this week.
MORE ON MAN UTD FROM F365:
👉 Ranking Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s mistakes at Man Utd from the email to Ten Hag
👉 Ten Hag avoids bottom spot in latest Premier League manager rankings with a newcomer on top
👉 The Media don’t want Ten Hag sack; why would we want the circus to end?
You’re toxic, I’m slippin’ under
Elsewhere on the MEN (part of Reach, a propos of nothing), we are told that ‘Manuel Ugarte instruction clear as Man United handed ‘toxic’ Erik ten Hag warning’.
Now ‘toxic’ is a great word so Mediawatch is following its nose on this news line until we reach…
The MEN brazenly just quoting themselves with their ‘warning’ that ‘the atmosphere could go on to become toxic during games, if performances don’t improve’.
Come on guys, at least pretend the remit is not to just churn out (more) sh*t.
Enjoy the silence
You know who hasn’t been silent? Gareth Southgate, that’s who.
In an appearance at the European Club Association general assembly in Athens, which sounds like a fun-fest, he said he fancied another 12 months off.
So of course…
‘Gareth Southgate breaks silence on Man Utd manager job links as he gives update on future after England exit’ – The Sun.
Amazing how you can break your silence on a club without being asked about or mentioning them.
To coin a phrase
‘Wolves tracking manager dubbed ‘modern day Sir Alex Ferguson’ as pressure mounts on Gary O’Neil’ – The Sun.
Want to take a guess at the one result thrown up by Google for ‘modern day Sir Alex Ferguson’?