Craig Burley has labelled Manchester United a “disgrace” as Sir Jim Ratcliffe is leaving Erik ten Hag “hanging” and the Glazers would have been labelled “clueless” in the same situation.
Ten Hag has looked doomed at Old Trafford essentially since Ratcliffe walked through the door as part-owner. Indeed, he vowed to take United back to the summit of world football, and reports that he didn’t want Ten Hag at the helm immediately followed.
He would certainly have a good reason for letting the Dutchman go.
This season, he was the architect of United’s worst-ever Premier League campaign, as the once great club fell to eighth in the table by the end.
FA Cup triumph gave fans something to shout about, but the league form cannot be ignored.
It was reported before the final against rivals Manchester City, that no matter the result, Ten Hag would be sent packing.
But days after the final, no formal decision has been announced.
Ten Hag himself has told the club he’ll “go somewhere else” if they don’t want him, which could prompt them to pull the trigger on his sacking.
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Man Utd labelled ‘disgrace’ for Ten Hag treatment
Burley has hit out at the club, and Ratcliffe in particular, for the poor treatment of Ten Hag, suggesting he should know his fate by now.
“Can I just say before we go any further: Manchester United are an absolute disgrace,” he said on ESPN FC.
“Come on. Most people know he’s probably going to be sacked. But now we’re three days after the FA Cup final and everyone is still hanging.”
Indeed, if Ten Hag has been told his fate, it’s strange nobody else has been informed, and if he hasn’t, it certainly seems unfair to make him wait.
Ratcliffe compared to Glazers
United’s majority owners, the Glazers, who now have no control of footballing operations after passing them to Ratcliffe, were clearly not liked by fans for the decisions they made, and Burley feels Ratcliffe is acting as poorly as they did at the moment.
“If this was the Glazers running the football department, we’d be saying ‘this is horrendous, the Glazers know nothing about football, how can you leave the guy hanging?’” Burley said.
“If the Glazers were doing that, people would be saying they are ‘absolutely clueless’ – so what are Jim Ratcliffe, INEOS and Dave Brailsford doing?”
It’s unclear what Ratcliffe’s thinking is currently, and there is no suggestion of when things will become clearer.
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