Man Utd tipped to sack Ten Hag after Villa match with Ratcliffe accused of ‘degrading’ the Dutchman

Man Utd owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been accused of “degrading” Erik ten Hag with Richard Keys insisting that he “felt a little bit sorry” for the Red Devils boss on Sunday.

Ten Hag’s side lost 3-0 on Sunday to Tottenham at Old Trafford in their third defeat of the season in the Premier League as they sit 12th in the Premier League table.

That has seen pressure grow on the Man Utd boss with speculation last season and over the summer that Ten Hag could be sacked by new co-owners INEOS and Ratcliffe.

Instead, INEOS decided to extend Ten Hag’s current deal and stick with him heading into this season – but there are rumours that they are already losing patience with him after six league matches.

Some reports claim the upcoming matches against FC Porto in the Europa League and Aston Villa in the Premier League will be pivotal for Ten Hag ahead of the international break.

BeIN Sports presenter Keys fired a few insults at Ten Hag in his latest blog, calling him “insipid” and “weak”, but the ex-Sky Sports employee mostly “felt a little bit sorry” for the Dutchman.

Keys wrote on his blog : “This is going to surprise a few people. I actually felt a little bit sorry for ten Hag yesterday (Sunday).

“What must he have been thinking as he stood on that OT touchline, in the pouring Manchester rain, watching the team he assembled for £600m being torn to shreds by Spurs?

“‘It’s United lads….’ That’s all big Ange will have to say when they meet again in February.

“Ten Hag was lost. He didn’t have a clue what to do. Hapless and hopeless. He wasn’t a Utd manager when they appointed him. He isn’t a Utd manager today. He never will be.

“He’s insipid. Weak. Full of excuses. There are so many stats that condemn him, but here’s the most damning of all. In their last 15 league games Utd have picked up 19 points. Everton have collected 21.

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“So why did I feel a little bit sorry for him? Well – because it’s not all his fault. Granted – if he’d had any pride or dignity he’d have walked in the summer when Ratcliffe was hawking his job around Europe. In the end he was 4th choice to keep it. How degrading.

“So this is all on Ratcliffe and his brains trust now. Of course they should’ve sacked ten Hag in the summer, but the man who’s cancelled staff lunchboxes, stopped the supply of free matchday programmes for some, demands people use Uber’s, sacked the kit manager of some 27 years service and the media guru, didn’t want to pay the going rate for a top coach. What’s that old saying about paying peanuts?

“Ratcliffe, Brailsford (what was in the Jiffy bag Dave?) Ashworth and Wilcox also wanted someone who’d do as he was told. Thomas Tuchel decided he could afford to say ‘no’.

“So here we are. United are 12th, having scored fewer goals at OT than either Liverpool or Spurs – facing a tricky European tie this week and almost inevitable defeat at Villa Park. Surely they’ll bring the curtain down on this sorry saga then? I hope they’ve still got Tuchel’s number?”

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