Manchester United extended Erik ten Hag’s contract at the club but any fan could see it came with some promises attached.
The biggest change that has been visible is the overhaul in the coaching staff, where his right-hand man Mitchell van der Gaag left, joined by Benni McCarthy.
In came Jelle ten Rouwelaar, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and Rene Hake in a complete refreshing of the support structure around the manager.
These are the changes just this summer but the seeds had been planted earlier, when Eric Ramsay left in the middle of the season last year to pursue head coaching ambitions.
He went to Minnesota United and the news of his departure at the time was celebrated by many as he had become a target of criticism for his biggest “failing” at the club.
Ramsay has now revealed that “failing” was in fact the biggest “false narrative” about his job at United.
Eric Ramsay lifts the lid on Man Utd tenure
Having impressed one and all at Minnesota United in early stages before recovering from a tumble recently, Ramsay has added to his reputation as one of British football’s best young coaches.
He was a highly-rated capture when he arrived from Chelsea and was one of the new people from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team who were kept by Erik ten Hag.
Even his departure was due to his own ambitions of being a head coach rather than United thinking he wasn’t up to it.
For many sections of fans, he had become a figure for ridicule because a certain aspect of his job had become overblown.
That was set-pieces, where United either couldn’t score from them and also looked susceptible when defending them.
It was widely claimed that Ramsay was United’s set-piece coach and now, in an interview with The Daily Mail, he has tried to set the record straight.
He said: “That’s a bit of a false narrative. My background at Chelsea was in elite player development which was a big part of my role when I went to United. The stuff around set-plays caught hold far more than necessary.
“My role was pretty general with that being a strand. I worked with Erik as a coach and was part of the staff delivering a lot of the stuff on the grass. It’s a strange one, I suppose.”
His bewilderment around this narrative is understandable, as calls for Ramsay to resign became louder with each failed set-piece. It is worth noting that since his departure, United haven’t announced anyone as a dedicated “set-piece coach” so his argument is rooted in truth instead of his avoiding responsibility.
A legacy to learn from
For United, Ramsay succeeding elsewhere after leaving the club continues a pattern where personnel rediscover their best selves post-departure.
Kieran McKenna is the most shining example of the phenomenon where he was doubted when he was at United under a free-falling Solskjaer, only to emerge as the real deal with Ipswich.
Michael Carrick has done well at Middlesbrough, while the likes of David Moyes and Jose Mourinho have repeatedly stressed about how difficult the job at United is in reality.
This is probably a legacy Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his team learned from when they ignored outside noise and awarded Ten Hag a contract extension instead of resetting another cycle.
The structure around the manager is finally there and the hope is that everyone will start feeling the benefits of it soon.
United might finally have credit to share amongst everyone instead of fans trying to find a figure to blame for their failures, as Ramsay felt first-hand.
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