Paul Gascoigne bizarrely tips Sir Alex Ferguson, 82, to replace Erik ten Hag for ‘one season’ as England legend insists Man United stars are taking the ‘p***’ out of under-fire Dutchman

Paul Gascoigne has bizarrely called for Sir Alex Ferguson to return as Manchester United manager.

Ferguson, 82, spent 27 brilliant years in charge of United between 1986 and 2013, winning 38 trophies.

In total, the legendary Scot won 895 of his 1,500 matches in the dugout before retiring at the end of the 2012-13 season.

Over the next eleven years, United failed to win the Premier League, with Erik ten Hag being the latest manager to struggle to return the club to their former glory.

United have had a difficult start to the 2024/25 season, winning just two of their first seven Premier League games, putting Ten Hag under immense pressure in his role.

Gascoigne felt Ferguson was the man who would rejuvenate the club, despite his retirement in May 2013

United boss Erik ten Hag is under heavy pressure after a difficult start to the season

And Gascoigne, who famously turned down a move to Ferguson’s United in 1988, felt the 82-year-old could be the man to replace the Dutchman despite failing to do so for 11 years.

“I feel a bit sorry for him (Ten Hag),” Gascoigne said SportsCasting UK. ‘I would like it [Sir Alex] Ferguson to take over for one season and see what he could do with those players, because I think some of them are letting him (Ten Hag) down.

‘You have to give the man a bit of respect and it is such a huge club. I don’t think some players realize who they are playing for.’

Ten Hag – who has also failed to beat FC Twente and Porto in the Europa League this season – came under heavy scrutiny last week after United’s chief executives held a seven-hour board meeting in London.

However, the 54-year-old remains in place, although he will soon have to provoke an upturn in United’s results to calm the noise around the club.

Since the Dutchman took over in May 2022, United have finished third and eighth in the Premier League, although they have won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup in that time, with Ten Hag regularly pointing to his trophy record in English football.

However, things have been far from plain sailing, with United’s eighth-place finish last season the lowest in the Premier League era, while crashing out of the Champions League in the group stages.

Ten Hag was also heavily backed and spent £550m in the transfer market, with United spending almost £200m this summer on the likes of Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Manuel Ugarte.

But despite this, Ten Hag – who saw his contract extended by a year in July – has struggled to get the best out of many of his star players.

This includes Marcus Rashford, with the forward having underperformed for much of the past two seasons.

And Gascoigne was particularly concerned for the 25-year-old, insisting a change of scenery could benefit his career.

“I love Rashford,” he added. ‘I think he’s an incredible player, but he doesn’t seem to care.

Ferguson retired after leading United to the Premier League title in the 2012/2013 season

Gascoigne said he felt sympathy for Ten Hag and that some players are ‘making fun of him’

Gascoigne also spoke about his concerns over Marcus Rashford and his struggles for form

‘Even when he scores, he doesn’t seem happy about it, so there’s something going on there.

“If that’s the case, just move on. He doesn’t seem happy to be playing in England anyway and there will be some good clubs coming for him.

‘Go to Italy, that will wake him up. It shook me a little bit.”

United, who are currently 14th in the top flight, return to action at home against Brentford on Saturday before a tough trip to Turkey to take on Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce next week.