Ten Hag sack? Replacement ‘clear as day’ as ‘stinky’ Man Utd boss fails ‘sniff test’

Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag has failed the “sniff test” at Old Trafford with it “clear as day” that Ruud van Nistelrooy will end up as manager, according to former Chelsea centre-back Jason Cundy.

The Red Devils have been struggling in the Premier League under Ten Hag with the Dutchman only managing to lead them to an eighth-placed finish last term.

They started off in perfect fashion with a narrow victory over Fulham in their first match but they’ve since lost back-to-back matches against Brighton and Liverpool.

Man Utd talked to potential candidates to replace Ten Hag over the summer but INEOS decided that the Dutchman was the right man to take them forward after he managed to beat Man City in the FA Cup final in May.

But already just a few matches into the new season and the pressure is mounting on Ten Hag with a defeat or draw against Southampton over the weekend likely to see that notch up once again.

Cundy said on talkSPORT : “They gave him one year added to one year. That is not backing the manager, that’s basically saying ‘We’ve had a look around, we’ve done the sniff test, there’s no one out there we like the smell of, we’re going to stick with this stink’. They basically feel right now it’s better the devil you know.”

He added: “The problem Ten Hag has is that he’s in a right hole now. He hasn’t been backed by the owners. That’s one of the worst efforts at backing a manager – giving him a one-year extension. [On bringing in the players Ten Hag wanted] that’s backing the project, not him. Give him a three-year contract!

“If you’re really backing the manager, say to him ‘I really believe in you, let’s do this now, let’s do another three on top of one year and give you four years’. They’re sitting there going, ‘There’s nothing out there that we fancy right now, we’ll bring in Van Nistelrooy in to help.'”

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Cundy concluded: “It’s clear as day how this is going to end up. Ten Hag knows it, Sir Jim Ratcliffe knows it, the players know it, Van Nistelrooy knows it. It’s just a matter of when.”

Former Man Utd striker Cristiano Ronaldo recently criticised Ten Hag for failing to believe that the Red Devils could win the Premier League and Champions League.

“As I told you, Manchester, they need to rebuild everything, in my opinion,” Ronaldo said on Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel .

“The coach, they say they cannot compete to win the league and Champions League.

“(As) Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the league or Champions League.

“You have to be, to mentally say, listen, maybe we don’t have that potential, but I cannot say that. We’re going to try. You have to try.”