Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has refused to back Erik ten Hag as pressure grows on the beleaguered manager.
United are 13th in the Premier League table having lost three of their opening six matches. They failed to win either of their opening Europa League games, labouring to a 3-3 draw in Porto on Thursday night after drawing with FC Twente a week earlier.
Asked if he had faith in Ten Hag to turn the tide, Ratcliffe told the BBC: “I don’t want to answer that question.
“I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day it’s not my call, it’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have 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 – [CEO] 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.”
more to follow…