Manchester United are taking their time over the future of Erik ten Hag with no decision expected on the manager this week.
The Old Trafford hierarchy are refusing to rush into a decision before determining whether to stick with Ten Hag, or sack their FA Cup winning manager.
United launched a season review this week and want to ensure they carry out a full assessment and work carefully through all considerations before making a judgement on Ten Hag.
There is recognition that United have a big decision to make either way and want to be sure they have left no stone unturned.
Speaking more generally in February in the wake of confirmation of his £1.3 billion for a 27.7 per cent stake in the club that saw him take complete control of football operations at Old Trafford, Sir Jim Ratcliffe stressed the importance of not rushing the big decisions they had to make going forward.
“We have to be careful we don’t rush at it in a way,” the Ineos owner said. “You don’t want to run to the wrong solution rather than walk to the correct solution.”
That mindset is now being applied to the ruling over Ten Hag’s future. United had always maintained that a final decision on the Dutchman’s future would not be made until they had been able to thoroughly assess the season.
Ten Hag flew on holiday on Sunday, the day after masterminding an impressive 2-1 victory over Premier League champions Manchester City in the Cup final at Wembley to deliver his second trophy in as many seasons, and is waiting to discover his fate.
Opposition among fans to the prospect of Ten Hag going has grown since their Wembley success, with a number of polls revealing the majority of supporters want to see the manager given more time despite the club’s worst league finish for 34 years.
United finished eighth in the Premier League with a negative goal difference and were knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage.
But Ten Hag blamed a persistent injury crisis that robbed him of key players and a settled defence for a chaotic campaign that he described as a “mess”.
Louis van Gaal was sacked as United manager within 48 hours of winning the FA Cup in 2016 but the club already had Jose Mourinho lined up as his replacement in that instance.
United held talks with the representatives of a series of managers, including Thomas Frank, Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, Roberto De Zerbi, Gareth Southgate and Kieran McKenna, in the weeks leading up to the Cup final as they kept all options open. McKenna has since committed his future to Ipswich Town.