Manchester United chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe has seemingly passed the buck when it comes to potentially sacking Erik ten Hag amid the club's nightmare start to the season.
The Red Devils squandered a 2-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Porto in the Europa League on Thursday night, days after they'd been outclassed in a 3-0 defeat to Tottenham.
Ten Hag was retained back in the summer after winning the FA Cup with United.
Yet the 54-year-old has overseen a terrible season so far, with the fallen giants currently 13th in the Premier League table.
Manchester United chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe has seemingly passed the buck when it comes to potentially sacking Erik ten Hag amid the club's nightmare start to the season
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Ten Hag, as things stand, seems to be a dead man walking.
Reports have claimed that the likes of Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Gareth Southgate could all be pursued if they end up wielding the axe.
And United co-owner Ratcliffe, speaking to the BBC, has refused to give the Dutchman a vote of confidence.
Instead, he's simply said that any decision on Ten Hag isn't his call.
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“I don’t want to answer that question," he said when asked if he still had faith in Ten Hag.
"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.”
Ratcliffe's comments will do little to dampen talk of Ten Hag potentially losing his job.
United face a crunch showdown with Aston Villa on Sunday, who they beat home and away last season.
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ReutersBut they'll need to put in a convincing performance to boost Ten Hag's chances of keeping his job.
The United boss, for his part, remains defiant.
He is adamant he's the right man for the job, despite the fallen giants' form going from bad to worse.
And Ten Hag also believes United will improve and be challenging for the biggest trophies come the end of the campaign.
Harry Maguire scored a late goal for Man Utd in their 3-3 draw with Porto to spare Erik ten Hag's blushes on Thursday night
REUTERS"We will get there," he said.
"Don't judge us in this moment, judge us at the end of the season. I said the same last season, just wait.
"We are in a process, we will improve. We have now had two seasons where we achieved finals, just wait, we have to develop and progress this team."
