Erik ten Hag can have no excuses after being given every chance by Ineos

Dutchman’s departure feels inevitable and he can surely have few complaints – but picking a replacement is not so easy

It was in an interview in February, once he had effectively taken control of Manchester United, that Sir Jim Ratcliffe hit the nail on the head. “If you look at the last 11 years, Manchester United has had quite a few coaches and some of those coaches are very capable and have been very successful,” the Ineos billionaire said. “But nobody has been successful in that Manchester United environment. So, that would say to me that there’s something wrong with the environment.”
And, so, understandably, Ratcliffe and his team set about changing that environment – which is something that the United fans, staff and Erik ten Hag also craved. Ten Hag had reasonably claimed that he lacked support, that the club’s infrastructure was weak and he could be properly judged only when the right organisation was in place.
It is now there and, so, Ten Hag can be judged. The manager is surviving by the skin of his teeth and the support that Ratcliffe’s team has so far continued to extend towards him. But if he is sacked during the international break, he can have no complaint. And neither can those United supporters. And neither should Ineos reproach itself.
No one can argue that Ten Hag has not been backed. Importantly, even those close to the Dutchman accept that. They are not complaining. And they accept there is no excuse for the current under-performance because the excuses have gone. That is key.
It will be argued that Ten Hag was undermined, maybe even fatally, by the review of his future at the end of that season, but it would have been negligent of Ratcliffe not to both look at other candidates and consider whether he should stick with the manager after United finished eighth in the Premier League. And Ten Hag always knew that.
If the players downed tools, that would be weird, given a large number are his players.
And the fans? Do not forget the groundswell of backing for Ten Hag when United surprisingly beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final. They demanded he stayed. They insisted he had earned it.
Maybe Ineos should have made the change, anyway. It spoke to enough managers – at least six; it kept Ten Hag hanging but it resolved he deserved the chance and it reasoned it first needed to get its new leadership team in place, with chief executive Omar Berrada arriving along with sporting director Dan Ashworth to join the new technical director Jason Wilcox and Ineos’s sporting adviser Sir Dave Brailsford. Even that constitutes a lot of sorting out.
What Ineos has done since then is give Ten Hag every chance. The one-year extension on his contract was triggered. Crucially, he kept the title of manager – even though United want a head coach – and he was backed in the transfer market. Boy, was he backed and it is now £600 million that has been spent on his watch and on his signings. There were changes to his backroom staff – not least the arrival of Ruud van Nistelrooy – but Ten Hag insists he sanctioned those hires.
Throughout the pre-season, Ashworth and co were visible in their support of Ten Hag. Then, before the embarrassing 3-0 home defeat by Liverpool, Ashworth and Berrada spoke publicly for the first time about their plans to restore United and their support for Ten Hag. “We’re fully backing him,” Berrada said. It was not a hollow vote of confidence.
The point is this: Ineos has given Ten Hag every chance to succeed. The fact is there has been more support and backing for Ten Hag in recent months than for any United manager since Sir Alex Ferguson. The fans have previously accused the owners of being tone-deaf but the new guys have listened.
Maybe it was only ever a marriage of convenience – because it could not find the right manager to succeed Ten Hag – but so what? The manager cannot say he has not been given the support he needed. There was certainly no knee-jerk reaction. Again, there is no excuse, and that is the bottom line.
It raises the obvious question: what next? Ten Hag will remain for at least the next two games. The mood among the hierarchy remains that they would like to keep him and they desperately want him to succeed. But, of course, there is a realisation that performances such as the 3-0 loss against Tottenham Hotspur are unacceptable and reduce the time available to Ten Hag to turn it around.
Ineos could well be criticised for not making the change in the summer; for losing time. But there is revisionism in that. Had Ten Hag been sacked, it would have felt harsh. Had a new manager – especially if it could not get the one it wanted – not hit the ground running, it would have put Ineos under pressure.
Now it cannot be accused of not being supportive or responsible. It has acted responsibly and fairly. But its next step is the crucial one. Bringing in Berrada and Ashworth and so on were easy decisions. Sacking Ten Hag is obvious – and, unfortunately, increasingly inevitable. Appointing the right manager, or rather head coach, is a far bigger call and one where Ineos needs to show its intent, its expertise and whether it is capable of doing the job. 
It is determined to change the environment. Sometimes that does also involve changing the manager. Otherwise the focus will shift to its own capabilities.