Even when Ineos opted to keep the faith with Erik ten Hag over the summer, it always felt as if a day like this would not be too far away at Manchester United.
The writing appeared to be on the wall when, after holding discussions with countless over managers before and after that FA Cup final, the Red Devils handed Erik ten Hag not a new contract but instead a contract extension.
Only a 12-month extension at that. And while Ruud van Nistelrooy was brought in to act as an assistant to his fellow Dutchman, there was always a nagging feeling that the former PSV Eindhoven boss may have also been appointed with an eye on an interim role later down the line.
Van Nistelrooy perhaps viewed a safe pair of hands to guide Manchester United through the post-Ten Hag era – if the 13-time Premier League champions were to start the new season badly – and until the first new manager of the Ineos regime walked through the doors.
Manchester United tipped for Newcastle manager Eddie Howe
The names of Graham Potter and co have appeared again in the media following Sunday’s capitulation against Tottenham Hotspur.
A game in which United started dreadfully, even before Bruno Fernandes’ red card gave Ten Hag an excuse to point to after yet another Old Trafford humbling.
Perhaps, if the arrival of new sporting director Dan Ashworth had not been delayed due to those drawn-out discussions over compensation, Ten Hag would already have been out of a job.
Ashworth is likely to be the man tasked with finding Man United’s new boss. It was a role he could not take on over the summer, however, having only been permitted to start work in his new role at the beginning of July.
Former Tottenham striker Darren Bent watched Man United being ripped limb from limb by his old employers over the weekend. And he wonders if Ashworth will now be tempted dust off his contact book in an attempt to convince Eddie Howe to join him in making that trip from Tyneside to Lancashire.
“Dan Ashworth and Eddie Howe have a good relationship,” Bent tells talkSPORT (30 September, 5pm). “I think he would be a great fit.
“I don’t think he will leave, but he would be a great fit.”
Still only 46, Howe is certainly likely to possess many of the attributes Ineos are looking for.
The man who took Newcastle from relegation battlers to Champions League chasers has a reputation for creating teams far better than the sum of their parts. And it is tempting to wonder what a man who turned Joelinton into a dominant central midfielder can do with a hugely-talented, hugely-underachieving Man United roster.
Howe’s team also play with an intensity and an identity Ten Hag’s Man United can only dream of.
Howe and Dan Ashworth excelled together at Newcastle
The admiration between Ashworth and the former AFC Bournemouth boss, meanwhile, is very much a two way street.
Howe praised the consistency and coherency Ashworth brought behind the scenes to St James’ Park, Newcastle opting not to go for big names and big reputations after that Saudi Arabian takeover in favour of a more methodical process.
Man United’s new board view Ashworth as one of the best in the world when it comes to constructing a competitive club from top to bottom. The work he did at Newcastle, Brighton and Hove Albion and with the English national team is testament to that.
“The biggest compliment I can give to Dan, is that when you are in a position of power, the natural thing to do is to try and change everything with a big ego,” Howe said when it became apparent that Ashworth would be joining Manchester United a few months ago.
“[However] he has let the same structures exist and survive. We are still working in the same way we did during the first window [after the Newcastle takeover].
“I can only compliment him on that.”
Ten Hag, meanwhile, is facing perhaps the biggest week of his United tenure. Lose away from home against FC Porto and Aston Villa – and defeats in both fixtures feel eminently possible – and United may have another face in the dugout when club football returns following the October international break.
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