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Ten Hag forced to give press conference for match he’ll never manage with Man Utd boss blissfully unaware he’d be sacked
Scroll down to read Ten Hag's final Man Utd press conference in full
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ERIK TEN HAG gave a press conference to preview Manchester United’s Carabao Cup tie with Leicester on Wednesday - even though he was sacked today.
The Dutchman spoke to the media directly after his press conference following Sunday’s controversial 2-1 loss away to West Ham.
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Yet bizarrely, Ten Hag found himself axed more than TWO DAYS before the Leicester game.
Unfortunately, club staging press conferences directly after games - to preview a match a few days later - is something which has crept into the game.
It is actually a bad idea.
And it is only to save club media staff and the manager from staging a press conference the day before the game, which has always been the case.
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But if a manager attempts to preview a game three days later, there is always a danger that the situation could change such as a key player getting injured or something important happening at the club in general.
Yet this situation was particularly unusual - and the manager who delivered a pre-match press conference ended up getting the boot.
At the conference, which was due to be released at 1.30pm tomorrow, Ten Hag revealed his frustration with Luke Shaw’s injury nightmare.
Ten Hag also stressed that he would consider it a success if he won the Carabao Cup for United, meaning he would have won a trophy for a third season in a row.
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He stressed that the most important thing was to win silverware, above anything else - and pointed out the fact that United still had the chance of winning four trophies - even though he has been sacked with United 14th in the table.
The Dutchman certainly did not come across like someone who knew they were about to lose their job.
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THIS is a mid-table squad at an underachieving club, with a lot of unwanted players on big money.
And Ratcliffe is an instinctive cost-cutter who may not pay top dollar to the next manager.
If this club wasn’t called ‘Manchester United’, it wouldn’t be an especially desirable job.
The good news for United is that their new sporting director, Dan Ashworth, is a very decent judge of a manager.
He has been instrumental in three previous managerial appointments — Gareth Southgate for England, Graham Potter for Brighton and Eddie Howe for Newcastle.
None were wildly popular at the time, all were conspicuous successes.
Interestingly, Ashworth’s No 1 choice for the Newcastle job was Unai Emery, who turned him down to stay at Villarreal but has since proved that judgment right by excelling at Aston Villa.
And the Spaniard would be an excellent fit for United — yet there is next to no chance that he would abandon Villa’s Champions League campaign to take the Old Trafford job, not least because he isn’t a stark raving madman.
Howe would be another good candidate to succeed Ten Hag but, although he has become frustrated on Tyneside, the Saudis would surely not allow Ratcliffe to poach Howe, as they reluctantly did with Ashworth.
Potter is available but his Chelsea experience and lack of charisma would make him a tough sell.
Which brings us to Southgate, who remains close with Ashworth and is an excellent man-manager who was seriously considered by United last spring.
Yet, despite having led England to two of their three major finals, Southgate’s reputation for over-caution was only enhanced during the Euros.
Mauricio Pochettino, passed over twice by United, is out of the equation having taken the United States job.
Thomas Tuchel would also have been a popular and gettable option - but England got in there first.
Likewise, Roberto De Zerbi, now at Marseille after his brief Brighton stint sparkled then fizzled out.
Kieran McKenna — a gifted former United coach who has won back-to-back promotions with Ipswich Town — is an intriguing candidate but the imminent vacancy may come a year or so too soon.
Marco Silva, the extremely under-rated Fulham boss, has been on United’s radar and should not be discounted.
Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim, last season’s ‘next big thing’, was passed over by West Ham as well as Liverpool this summer and is not an easy man to pin down.
Zinedine Zidane, who has taken over from Alan Curbishley as a 20-1 shot for every Premier League job, is a ‘figurehead’ manager and not an Ashworth type.
Ruud van Nistelrooy, the former United goal machine who joined Ten Hag’s coaching team in the summer is the bookies’ favourite. Simply because he’s in the building and he’s Dutch.
So, yes, getting rid of Ten Hag is the easy part.
Ten Hag's final Man Utd press conference in full...
QUESTION: Erik, do you expect any players to be available for Wednesday after coming back from injury?
Ten Hag: "No, I don’t think so."
Q: Luke Shaw has been out for more than two months now. Originally it was suggested he was going to come back in September, then October and now November. Has he had setbacks?
A: "The process is not going as we expected. That is the truth. But a setback, if you want to call it like this, yes, but we also want to do it carefully because we don’t.. when he is now dropping again and we have made the wrong process so we want to be very careful.
"We know his past and we have to do things right because we want him to be available because he will have a big impact on our performances and so also our levels. So we cannot have it that he plays for some games and drops out again so we do it very carefully."
Q: You won the Carabao Cup a couple of years ago and you take great pride in winning trophies in both seasons. If you win a trophy in your third season, does it make this season a success again?
A: "Definitely. It is about trophies. I don’t want to go on about this debate again but I think it is the truth. There are not so many trophies you can win and if you win a trophy it tops them all.
"That is the most important thing because that is what the fans expect and what we expect, to win the trophy and you have.. We have had five opportunities and one we missed but that was the Community Shield but there are still four to go."
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Q: After the European game, you said Manuel Ugarte was still developing but there are still parts of the game model you are looking to build into his game. What are you looking for from your midfielder?
A: "My midfielders... I have different types and we have, of course, the holding midfielders, the box-to-box, the 10s.
"Most of the time we have four midfielders there and we rotate them and specifically for Manuel Ugarte, most of the time he will be in a holding position and yes, what we expect from him is holding but also linking, building the attack and making the links into attack and then, very importantly, he is in the defensive position."
Q: Is this linking the build you want to build with him?
A: "I think every player can do better but I was very happy with his performance in Fenerbahce. It was definitely a step forward."
Q: How do you think the players will respond to this setback today. They have obviously performed well but not taken their chances and the injustice of the penalty call but if you look at the table, 14th in the Premier League. Do they look at that and think ‘this is not good enough, we need to be better.’
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A: "First of all, we have to do better. I will tell them the ranking is not reflecting our performance or levels but at the end of the season, we have to get this right but of course, it is not easy when you have so many setbacks at the start of the season and to overcome this but we have to fight back.
"It will always help when you have a good start. You get motivation, you get belief. The confidence will grow and we are now in the process of the other side when we are disappointed but we have to deal with setbacks and now we have to find the fuel from setbacks and disappointments."
Who could replace Ten Hag at Man Utd?
ERIK TEN HAG has finally been put out of his Manchester United misery - but who will be the manager to lead them into the future?
Ruud van Nistelrooy
The Red Devils legend, 48, is no stranger to the pressures of Old Trafford.
Van Nistelrooy scored 150 goals in 219 games for Man Utd and helped them to the 2002-03 Premier League title.
The striker also starred for another monster club, Real Madrid, as a player before going into coaching.
The 70-cap ex-Holland international managed PSV's youth team before landing the senior job for the 2022-23 season.
Van Nistelrooy landed a coaching job under Ten Hag earlier this year and is said to have done a superb job working with the clubs strikers behind the scenes.
And now he will have the chance to show what he can do in a live 'interview' of sorts.
How long the club will give him is another matter.
Gareth Southgate
The former England boss, 54, has long been linked with the Man Utd job.
The former Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough defender has gone on to enjoy great success as a manager - albeit without getting his hands on a major trophy.
Southgate managed Middlesbrough between 2006 and 2009 before taking on the England Under-21s job between 2013 and 2016.
The 57-cap former Three Lions international then took the senior national job, replacing Roy Hodgson.
Southgate brought the nation together as he led England to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, as well as the final of Euro 2020 and Euro 2024.
However, he left his role in the summer following the defeat to Spain and was replaced by Lee Carsley on an interim basis.
Thomas Tuchel - another boss long linked with the Old Trafford job - will take over the reins in 2025.
Southgate has been out of club management for 15 years and a portion of England fans were frustrated by what they deemed a defensive style.
However, his ability to largely galvanise the fan-base and deal with the pressure of one of the biggest jobs in sport with real class would be a huge asset for United.
Edin Terzic
Earlier this month, SunSport revealed Edin Terzic is the shock name on United's list to replace Ten Hag.
German Terzic took Borussia Dortmund to the Champions League final last season before surprisingly quitting.
He has many admirers at Old Trafford and it would he a smart but unexpected move to go for him if they sack under-fire Ten Hag.
Terzic, 41, did his coaching badges in England, where he was friends with fellow United target Graham Potter, and then worked as Slaven Bilic’s No 2 at West Ham.
He rose to the top in Germany during two spells at Dortmund before he walked away in June.
Graham Potter
The English boss, 49, has been out of work since being axed by Chelsea in April 2023.
Potter excited fans with his attacking approach at Brighton before he was poached by the Blues.
However, he failed to lift Chelsea out of their funk and was given his marching orders.
Potter's fans include Manchester City mastermind Pep Guardiola.
And there's no doubt the ex-OstersundS FK and Swansea boss would get United playing on the front foot, something Old Trafford fans have long craved.
Kieran McKenna
Cruelly denied a playing career due to injury, the former Tottenham youth prospect has excelled as a coach.
McKenna, 38, worked as Under-18s coach at both Spurs and Man Utd before landing the top job at Ipswich Town.
The young boss incredibly guided the Tractor Boys to back-to-back promotions, guiding them from League One back to the Premier League, ending the club's 22-year absence.
McKenna was quickly added to a host of clubs' wish-lists, including Man Utd, according to reports.
But Ipswich reacted swiftly to offer him a new, long-term contract.
However, his side are yet to win any of their opening nine Premier League games, with four wins and five defeats.
McKenna has Ipswich playing exciting, expansive football - something Man Utd fans crave.
The big question now is whether McKenna opts to jump ship or stay loyal.
Ruben Amorim, Xavi and Thomas Frank are also three names very much believed to be in the running.
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