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Sir Jim Ratcliffe has refused to publicly back beleaguered boss Erik ten Hag as the Manchester United boss’ future hangs in the balance.
Pressure is mounting on Ten Hag after a disappointing start to the season, with United heading to in-form Aston Villa on Sunday, desperate for a win.
Ratcliffe, a minority co-owner at Old Trafford, is expected to make the trip to Villa Park to see Ten Hag and his players in person and that has raised further concerns about Ten Hag’s job security.
Ratcliffe had lunch with former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel last summer about the possibility of replacing Ten Hag as manager.
Ratcliffe and his Ineos leadership team ultimately decided to stay with Ten Hag as they felt they had the best manager available.
Manchester United minority co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has broken his silence on the speculation surrounding Erik ten Hag’s future
The Dutchman is coming under increasing pressure due to poor performances and faces a difficult away match against Aston Villa
But under pressure on Friday over whether he retains confidence in the beleaguered Dutchman, Ratcliffe would not be pulled.
“I don’t want to answer that question,” he told the newspaper BBC.
‘I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach, but at the end of the day it’s not my job. It is the management team that runs Manchester United that has to decide how best to run the team in many different respects.”
Ten Hag said this week that ‘everyone is in the same boat’ and that he is in daily contact with key figures such as sporting director Dan Ashworth and CEO Omar Berrada.
According to Ratcliffe, the restructuring of the United hierarchy must be given time to find its feet.
He added: ‘The team that manages Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren’t there in January, February, March or April – [CEO] Omar [Berrada], [Sporting Director] Dan Ashworth – they didn’t arrive until July.
Ratcliffe insists that Ten Hag’s future lies in the hands of their management team. Pictured (L-R): Ineos head of sport Sir Dave Brailsford, United CEO Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth
“They’ve only been there… you can almost count it for weeks – they haven’t been there for a long time, so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.
“Our goal is very clear: we want to get Manchester United back to where it should be, which obviously isn’t there yet. That’s very clear.’