Erik ten Hag faces anxious wait with 'next few weeks critical' after Manchester United boardroom talks

Erik ten Hag faces an anxious wait over his Manchester United future after no clarity was offered following seven hours of talks between the club’s hierarchy.

United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe met with members of the club’s executive committee for talks in London on Tuesday.

United executive co-chairman Joel Glazer , CEO Omar Berrada , directors Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc, technical director Jason Wilcox and sporting director Dan Ashworth were among those involved for the regular gathering of the committee.

And while no decision was made on Ten Hag’s position as manager, The Guardian claim the group could still decide to remove him in the coming days.

The meeting started at around 10am in Mayfair and finished just before 5pm, with Ratcliffe and Brailsford leaving through a back entrance in order to avoid the media.

Other issues on the agenda included early plans for the January transfer window, the redevelopment of Old Trafford and commercial and sponsorship deals.

But they will have had to discuss Ten Hag’s future after United made their worst-ever start to a Premier League season with Sunday’s 0-0 draw at Aston Villa leaving them 14th in the table.

Thomas Tuchel remains of interest with United interviewing him for the role in the summer, while Ten Hag’s assistant Ruud van Nistlelrooy is a potential option as caretaker manager.

Ten Hag was publicly confident he would not be sacked ahead of the meeting and is currently on holiday.

He has granted time away from the club’s Carrington training base to first-team players not away with their national teams during the October international break.

And club legend Gary Neville believes Ten Hag has bought himself some time but that the next few weeks are crucial to his longevity.

"They definitely won't want to do anything this season," Neville told Sky Sports. "No club wants to sack a manager during the middle of the season. It's not just a reflection on the manager, it's a reflection upon them.

"Even though INEOS have come into the club in the last few months in terms of taking control of the football side - and Dan Ashworth and Omar Berrada have only been in for a couple of months - you can't really land the blame at their door. They're going to need two or three years to sort this out.

"But the club did make the decision to keep Ten Hag in the summer, so they won't want to reverse that decision within the first six or seven games. They have just got to hope [something happens] in this next couple of weeks - through maybe a reset, some thinking time, some planning.

"Manchester United fans, coaches, players have talked about this new structure that surrounds Ten Hag, it needs to go to work quite quickly in the next few weeks.

"If the next international break comes around and Manchester United are still in that 13th, 14th position in the league, I think there's going to be a lot of pressure.

"The next few weeks are critical in making sure they can somehow get some momentum for the rest of the season so that Ten Hag can keep his job.

"Because no United fan wants to see Ten Hag lose his job either, that would just feel like we're on a roundabout, just spinning the same way we have for the last 10 to 12 years."

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