Man United chief admits they are ‘NOT happy’ with their start to the season – as Erik ten Hag’s side sit 12th in the Premier League

Manchester United bosses have openly admitted they are ‘not happy’ with their start to the season as speculation mounts over manager Erik ten Hag’s future at the club.

Before the international break last week, United were 14th in the league, marking their worst ever start to a Premier League season.

According to the MirrorIt is believed that club bosses, including Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford, staged an intervention to decide the manager’s fate.

And while it appears the Dutchman will be given a reprieve – boosted by the Red Devils’ 2-1 win over Brentford last weekend – senior members of the club’s management have been outspokenly critical of their season so far.

United Chief Communications Officer Toby Craig told a fan forum last week that the club is ‘clearly not happy’ with the start of the 2024-2025 season.

Members of the INEOS-backed leadership told a fan forum that they are working to change things

Craig, who previously held senior communications roles at City Group and Chelsea, has pointed to the massive structural changes taking place at the club as the reason for their poor form.

He said: ‘Clearly we are not happy with the start to the season for the men’s first team and the results are not where we want them to be. There is a tremendous amount of change happening.

‘We think we have come out of the summer transfer window with a stronger squad, but it is one that is still evolving with a number of younger players who will continue to improve.

“So there have been changes on the pitch, but also off it, with Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox joining the club.

‘They are transforming our sports structure off the field. We know there is still much to do. The women’s first team has started the season well, with a 100 percent record in the WSL so far.

‘While the main focus of the fans forum has always been on fan issues, we will seek to keep the forum informed of football developments and provide access to football leadership from time to time.’

Man United Chief Operating Officer Collette Roche added that it had been a ‘difficult start to the season for the men’s first team’.

“But everyone at Carrington is working hard to get things back on track with three quarters of the season still to go,” she told the forum.

“Things have started a lot brighter on the women’s side, with three wins out of three in the WSL, so let’s hope we can keep that up.

‘Outside the field you know that we have gone through a period of restructuring in which we said goodbye to approximately 250 colleagues.’

Roche pointed out that the INEOS-backed operational team has now taken tough action to free up space for future progress.

“That has been a difficult process, but we wouldn’t have done it if we didn’t think it was necessary,” Roche said.

United were boosted by a 2-1 win against Brentford on Saturday, which moved them up to 12th

United’s poor start to the 2024/25 season has put manager Erik ten Hag’s job in jeopardy

‘The truth is that even though we are generating record revenues that are among the highest in European football, we are still losing money.

‘That is not a sustainable situation. That’s why we’ve taken action to identify areas where we can increase efficiency.”

The last time Manchester United won just nine points from their first seven league games in a season was in 2019/20 under Ole Gunnar Solskjær.

According to Opta, ‘things got even worse for them in their eighth game of that campaign as they were beaten 1-0 at Newcastle United to finish MD 8 in 12th place and 15 points behind leaders Liverpool’.