The vultures are already circling at Old Trafford, where Erik ten Hag appears to be on borrowed time unless he can turn around results in what’s been an awful 2023/24 campaign for them so far.
Man United have already lost half of their 10 games in the Premier League are well out of the title picture already.
Losing heavily to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday means that they’ve only the FA Cup and European qualification to play for this season, and that’s not good enough according to Stan Collymore.
‘The problem with Erik Ten Hag is that if you go to a club like Manchester United or Liverpool, the two biggest clubs in English football, you have to be demonstrative, have an inner strength and a big personality,’ he wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.
‘Look at Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola. Does the culture at Liverpool and Man City sit on their shoulders like a heavyweight or do they stride forward with it under their arms?
‘When they lose two or three games they get a bit prickly and don’t suffer fool’s gladly. A bit like Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton. They’ve all just got ‘it.’’
The former Liverpool striker was damning in his assessment of the Dutchman and wondered if he’d actually improved any player since he arrived at the club.
‘I don’t see major progression at Man United under ten Hag. Has he made average players good, good players very good and very good players into world class regulars?’ he continued.
‘There’s no Manchester United player significantly better than when they joined the club under ten Hag, and even Marcus Rashford has gone back to being famously inconsistent.’
Despite how awful everything appears to be at the club at present, the likelihood is that United will allow ten Hag to see out the season unless something dramatic happens and they’re left with no choice but to get rid.
‘I think Manchester United are traditionally a club that won’t sack managers during the middle of the season, so I think they’ll wait and see whether he can get them another trophy before a parting of the ways before the Euros,’ Collymore added.
If the Dutchman manages to turn things around from this point, it would be some comeback, however, he already looks like a dead man walking with the weight of the world on his shoulders.