The Manchester United co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has added to the uncertainty of Erik ten Hag’s future by declaring any decision on the manager is “not my call”.
Speaking in Barcelona, in the aftermath of the Ineos Britannia, the sailing team he funds, winning the Louis Vuitton Cup to reach next week’s America’s Cup, Ratcliffe was asked about his other sporting interest.
Ratcliffe was evasive when asked by the BBC about Ten Hag, the manager whose United team escaped with a 3-3 Europa League draw against Porto on Thursday only after Harry Maguire’s late header.
“I don’t want to answer that question,” said the billionaire, who bought 27.7% of the club last December. “I like Erik, I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day it’s not my call.”
When Ratcliffe’s Ineos team bought into United, the deal included being handed sporting control by the Glazer family. In Barcelona, Ratcliffe said he had delegated that control to the chief executive, Omar Berrada, and sporting director, Dan Ashworth, once their commitments to previous employers Manchester City and Newcastle respectively were completed.
“It’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects,” said Ratcliffe. “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 – Omar, Dan – they only arrived in July.”
Ten Hag was awarded a one-year extension in May, following United’s FA Cup final victory over City. That Wembley win has done little to improve United’s Premier League fortunes. After seven matches, United lie 13th in the table, and have only beaten second-bottom Southampton and League One Barnsley in the Carabao Cup since 16 August.
In Porto on Thursday, United held a two-goal lead, only to concede twice in seven minutes before Maguire rescued a draw for a team reduced to 10 players by captain’s Bruno Fernandes’s indiscipline.
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Ratcliffe said of his appointed decision-makers: “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.”
In Portugal, Ten Hag had stayed typically defiant. “This team has the belief that they don’t give up,” he said. “So they have that range of positive mentality and have a strong mentality. But in some other parts, they have to step up.”
On questions of his future, Ten Hag remained unmoved: “There are more areas where we will improve, definitely. And then we will see where we will end at the end of the season. I’m not thinking about such issues because that is not a topic. We are in this together. The ownership, the leadership, the team, the staff.”
