Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has revealed that the call to decide the fate of manager Erik ten Hag is not his to make.
The Dutchman is under plenty of pressure following a woeful start to 2024-25, and a defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday could land a huge blow on his chances of retaining the job going forward.
However, Ratcliffe will not have the final say over the future of the Man United boss, claiming that the decision belongs to other club officials.
“I don’t want to answer that question,” the co-owner of the Red Devils told the BBC when asked if he has faith in Ten Hag.
“I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach, but it’s not my call – it’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that has to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.
“But that team that’s running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren’t there in January, February, March or April – [Chief Executive Officer] Omar Berrada, [Sporting Director] Dan Ashworth – they only arrived in July.
“They’ve only been there – you can count it in weeks almost – they’ve not been there a long time, so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.
“Our objective is very clear – we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it’s not there yet, obviously – that’s very clear.”
The Old Trafford club have won just three of their nine games across all competitions in 2024-25, drawing three of the last four matches and losing the other one.
Ratcliffe will be at Villa Park on Sunday to watch Man United take on the Midlands club, and Ten Hag will hope his team can impress.
With Berrada and Ashworth the ones to decide his future, the Dutchman could be given plenty of time to turn the fortunes of the team on the pitch around.
The 3-3 draw at Porto last night did not help his cause, and things must improve significantly in the coming months if he wants to hold on to his job.
