Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has shirked responsibility regarding the future of Erik ten Hag as âitâs not his callâ whether heâs sacked.
At the start of this year, Ratcliffe purchased a minority stake in the Premier League giants. As part of this deal, he has taken control of footballing matters at Old Trafford.
The INEOS chief has made huge changes at Man Utd in recent months. He has overhauled their recruitment team as sporting director Dan Ashworth, chief executive Omar Berrada and technical director Jason Wilcox have been recruited.
Ratcliffe and co. were expected to replace Ten Hag in the summer as the Dutchman was under immense pressure as Man Utd struggled en route to finishing eighth in the Premier League.
Ten Hag kept his job after Man Utd beat Man City at Wembley to win the FA Cup, but he is on the brink as his side have lost three of their opening six Premier League games.
The United boss is the favourite to be the first Premier League manager sacked this season and Sundayâs match against Aston Villa could be his last dance.Â
On Friday, Ratcliffe was asked whether he has faith in Ten Hag and he revealed itâs ânot his callâ whether the Dutchman keeps his job.
âI donât want to answer that questionâĻI like Erik. I think heâs a very good coach but at the end of the day itâs not my call, itâs the management team thatâs running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects,â Ratcliffe said in an interview with BBC Sport.
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âBut that team thatâs running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They werenât there in January, February, March or April â [CEO] Omar [Berrada], [Sporting Director] Dan Ashworth â they only arrived in July.
âTheyâve only been thereâĻyou can count it in weeks almost â theyâve not been there a long time so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.
âOur objective is very clear â we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and itâs not there yet, obviously â thatâs very clear.â
Ahead of Unitedâs trip to face Aston Villa, Ten Hag remained insistent that he has the support of the board as they are âin there togetherâ.
âIâm not thinking about such issues because that is not a topic,â Ten Hag said.
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âWe are in there together â the ownership, the leadership team, the staff. I appointed a new staff, we bought, again, new young players and we have to integrate them.
âLike we just talked about Manuel Ugarte, the six position was absolutely one of the topics we want to sign for the season but he needs time to integrate.
âAnd I know in top football you donât get time, they have to perform immediately, but itâs not always realistic.
âHe has to get used to our game model, he has to get used to his team-mates, he has to get used to the intensity of the Premier League, so it needs time.
âWe have more positions where we need time, where I was very pleased with the return of Rasmus Hojlund.
âI think he had a good return, but we didnât and we couldnât play him in the first two months of the season.
âHopefully heâs now fit, he keeps improving in his fitness levels, and that he also has a consistent, fit season. That will help us.
âThere are some more areas where we will improve, definitely, and then this team can grow and improve. Then we will see where we will end in the end of the season.â
