Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says the future of under-pressure manager Erik ten Hag is “not my call”.
Billionaire Ratcliffe took control of football operations at Old Trafford in February and, in July, the club triggered a one-year extension in Ten Hag’s contract.
But following a difficult start to the campaign, Ratcliffe said the United hierarchy he has put in place must “take stock and make some sensible decisions”.
Asked if he still had faith in former Ajax boss Ten Hag, Ratcliffe told BBC Sport: “I don’t want to answer that question.”
Ratcliffe was speaking after watching Ineos Britannia become the first British sailing team to reach the Americas Cup final since 1964 on Friday, and a day after 10-man United blew a two-goal lead but drew 3-3 at Porto in the Europa League.
Ten Hag’s side have won only three of their first 10 matches of the season and are winless in four games in all competitions before visiting Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday.
“I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day it’s not my call,” Ratcliffe said.
“It’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.
“But that team that’s running 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 only arrived in July.
“They’ve only been there… you can count it in weeks almost – they’ve not been there a long time, so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.
“Our objective is very clear – we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it’s not there yet, obviously – that’s very clear.”
Ten Hag has won two trophies in two years at Old Trafford, but an impressive 2-1 victory against Manchester City in May’s FA Cup final proved vital to the Dutchman keeping his job.
Ten Hag ended the club’s six-year wait for silverware with victory against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final in his first season at the club, also achieving a third-place finish in the Premier League.
But his second season proved far more difficult as United, having been knocked out in the group stage of the Champions League, finished eighth in the league before ending on a high against City at Wembley.
The initial deal Ten Hag signed when he was appointed in 2022 was due to expire at the end of the current season, in 2025.
Following a review of the team’s performance across the 2023-24 season, which included speaking to potential replacements for Ten Hag, the club – led by Ratcliffe – decided to trigger an extension to keep the manager at Old Trafford until 2026.
But just 10 games into the campaign, with United 13th in the Premier League table and winless in Europe, speculation over his future is mounting – with a trip to high-flying Villa to come before October’s international break.