Neville says Ratcliffe has already made decision on Ten Hag

Gary Neville believes Sir Jim Ratcliffe will already know if he wants Erik ten Hag to stay in charge of Manchester United beyond the summer.

Ten Hag presided over a 10th Premier League defeat of the season on Saturday as United slipped eight points behind Aston Villa in the final automatic Champions League qualification spot.

Dutchman Ten Hag took over at United in 2022 and, despite a good first season in charge, has faced criticism this term for United’s style of play and poor results.

Second-season syndrome for Ten Hag?

United were knocked out of Europe altogether after finishing bottom of their Champions League group and put up a miserable defence of the League Cup they won last season.

Neville thinks United’s new ownership structure will see United stop making reactive decisions in recruitment on and off the pitch – and that could spell bad news for Ten Hag.

“I think that if you look at the guy that’s come in from City as CEO (Omar Berrada) and then they’re trying to get Dan Ashworth in from Newcastle, they’re going to make a decision I think quite quickly if they’ve not done already,” Neville told Sky Sports.

“I suspect that Jim Ratcliffe and Dave Brailsford already know whether they’re going to keep Erik ten Hag as manager next season. I can’t believe they’re going to wait until May to make that decision and then leave themselves short.

“Where United have been found out in the last 10 years in recruitment on and off the pitch is making poor decisions, late decisions, not being ahead of the game, I don’t think they’re going to do that so for me I suspect they’ve probably come to a conclusion already and it may even be that they stick with the decision whether they qualify for the Champions League or not.”