It is the question that dominated most of the 2023/24 season but looked firmly in the rearview mirror coming into this season.
Having signed a contract extension in the summer after a myriad of speculation, Ineos finally had their man in the dugout and they were committing to him.
For six league games, apparently, as the free fall from last season has continued into this one despite a good transfer window and an overhaul of the coaching staff and the executive structure.
The one constant in that overhaul? Erik ten Hag, so of course he’d come under the scanner now but nobody expected it to be this soon.
The shambolic defeat vs Tottenham seems to have turned a tide though when it comes to sentiment towards the Dutchman.
Amidst a renewed and feverish round of speculation following that result, Fabrizio Romano has given his latest info on the situation.
Fabrizio Romano’s Erik ten Hag sack update
It was recently reported what Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s latest stance on Ten Hag’s Man Utd future is, and that contained a firm deadline.
It can be said that the fixture list for United so far was actually forgiving, and yet, the team stands at three wins from their first nine games in all competitions.
With an away game at Porto kicking off a tricky run that has four away games in the next five, things might get worse for United and Ten Hag.
On current form, the manager might not even be in the dugout to oversee that run of the game, if Romano’s latest update is anything to go by.
The transfer insider spoke on his YouTube channel and said that positive results are not the only parameter the manager will be judged on going forward.
He said: “What’s important to say is that the pressure and tension is growing. Not internally at Man United but they can see how the situation is not developing.
“At the moment, Man Utd still trust Erik ten Hag but the next two games are so important. It’s not just about the result.
“They want to see how the squad reacts to this difficult moment, and what their performance is. To many people at Manchester United, the feeling was that the reaction to the difficult moment recently was not the one you expect from important players wearing a big shirt.
“So this is why, the reaction and performance vs Porto and Villa are going to be very important for Ten Hag.”
Unpacking Romano’s comments
From Romano’s comments, it is clear that the board thinks all the blame can’t be put on the door of the manager and there is some merit to that thinking.
After all, United have cycled through multiple managers since Sir Alex Ferguson retired and it is understandable that they want to give Ten Hag a chance under the new structure.
However, at this point, it is worth looking into if they have hitched their wagon to the wrong person, and it is clear that they are doubting that too.
Giving Ten Hag effectively two games to save his job, and not just based on results, but an overall better performance points to a boardroom that won’t be satisfied with just a scraped, fluke win that takes the team nowhere in the long term.
That is exactly how they might be looking at the FA Cup win last season against Manchester City because United look like they’re back to square one after their latest defeat.
Ten Hag and his team fluffed the forgiving run of fixtures to build some momentum, now they fight for their lives in an unforgiving one.
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