- Benni McCarthy has revealed why Jadon Sancho has not apologised to Ten Hag
- Ten Hag excluded Sancho from his squad after the two publicly fell out last year
- CHRIS SUTTON weighs in on who won the battle between Ian Ladyman and Erik ten Hag – Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast
Jadon Sancho refused to apologise to Erik ten Hag over their fall-out because the Manchester United outcast believed it would have meant admitting he was lazy and unprofessional.
United forwards coach Benni McCarthy has lifted the lid on the bust-up that led to Sancho being ostracised at United and sent back to Borussia Dortmund on loan in January.
Sancho can have the last laugh on Saturday night when he plays for Dortmund against Real Madrid in the Champions League final at Wembley, a week after Ten Hag won the FA Cup there in what could be his last game in charge.
In September, Sancho claimed he had been made a scapegoat in a social media post and effectively branded Ten Hag a liar over his reasons for leaving the player out of his squad at Arsenal because he had not trained hard enough.
Ten Hag demanded an apology and when Sancho refused, United’s £73million winger was made to train and eat alone for the next four months at Carrington.
McCarthy has described how he tried to mediate but soon realised that Sancho’s background meant he was never going to back down.
‘If you’re from the streets, no one wants to apologise,’ said McCarthy. ‘You admit you are not training well, you are lazy, everything you are accused of. Jadon wasn’t going to have that.
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‘The manager has a strong character and just said that all he wants is an apology. Jadon thought that he had done nothing wrong. He didn’t see why he had to apologise. Sometimes you have to apologise, because a player will never win against a manager.
‘I spoke to Jadon as a coach, as a mentor, as a friend, and as someone who grew up on the streets and knows the code.
‘But Jadon just wasn’t seeing it. He said, “I ain’t apologising because if I do, I’m apologising for being lazy, always being late, not giving my best – that’s what I’m apologising for”. Those were his reasons”.
‘I spoke to the manager and I said to him that you know the delicacy, and I think Jadon feels that if he apologises then he’s going to be classed as someone who doesn’t train hard, doesn’t work hard, that everything that was said against him was true.’
Speaking to South African radio station 947 Joburg, McCarthy revealed that he is out of contract in a few weeks and in limbo at United as Ten Hag’s future hangs in the balance.
It’s understood that United haven’t spoken to McCarthy yet but the 46-year-old former Blackburn and West Ham striker wants to stay and coach in Europe if he does leave Old Trafford.
‘I don’t know if I’m going to stay or leave,’ he added. ‘I learned a lot at Man United working with Erik, he’s one of the smartest managers I’ve known.
‘My contract ends in June. If the club wants me to continue in this role, I would be grateful. That would be great. I love my role, I love working for Manchester United, but the desire to be a manager, to be the person in charge is still there.’