Manchester United’s delayed decision to keep Erik ten Hag on as manager is a sign of “total madness” behind the scenes, says Paul Ince, who also blasted their transfer strategy as “diabolical”.
Reports this week told how Ten Hag will remain in his role following a post-season review by the club hierarchy.
The Dutchman had a difficult season at Old Trafford as United limped to an eighth-place Premier League finish, but redeemed himself to a certain degree with an impressive FA Cup final victory over rivals Manchester City.
However, former United midfielder Ince has not been impressed by the way things have unfolded in Manchester.
“When it comes to Manchester United’s internal review, I think there's a lack of respect for Erik ten Hag, I really do. It's total madness what's going on here,” Ince told Bet365.
“Obviously they've won the FA Cup, which is great, but look at Louis van Gaal winning the FA Cup and getting sacked the next day, they need to wash away from the idea that they need to keep him because he won that.
“The Premier League, that's your bread and butter. The 38 games in the Premier League and where do you finish? They finished eighth, which is nowhere near good enough.
“It hasn't been good enough for a long, long time. Maybe they feel that with Jason Wilcox coming in and Dan Ashworth coming in that things can improve next year.
“Now it looks to me like they're trying to look for other managers to see who are prepared to go to Manchester United, having meetings with Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino, that is a lack of respect, it’s disrespectful for the manager at the football club.”
Tuchel, Pochettino and Roberto De Zerbi were among the names to be linked with the United managerial job as pressure increased on Ten Hag under new owners INEOS.
And former England international Ince, who spent six years at United, winning two Premier League titles and making more than 200 appearances for the club, blasted what he saw as blatant disrespect.
“I'd hate to think that I'm managing a football team and my colleagues are out talking to other managers while you're sitting in the job. Surely there has to be a lack of respect,” Ince continued.
“There has to be and I think it's so unfair on Ten Hag I really, really do. In that position you’d just want to know are you keeping me or are you not keeping me?
“If I'm going to go then let me go because there might be possibilities of me going somewhere else before the season starts.
“But don't play this game where you are calling other managers, Pochettino or Roberto De Zerbi or whoever, before making your decision.
“If they're actually meeting managers and making it publicly known that they're meeting managers, then you have to question if they have 100% faith in Ten Hag, they need to make a decision because it’s been two and a half weeks now and it shows a lack of respect.”
It wasn’t just the club’s hesitation over Ten Hag’s future that drew the ire of Ince, but also their recent work in the transfer market.
Dan Ashworth was approached by INEOS to join as Technical Director after a string of disappointing windows, and Ince pointed out that things couldn’t be any more different than they were in his day under Sir Alex Ferguson.
“We've seen that the last five years, six years of recruitment at Manchester United has been diabolical. It really, really has,” Ince said.
“When I joined Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson said to me that he had been watching me for two or three years to see if I was good enough, he did the same with Roy Keane, now you have one good season and you cost 60 or 70 million pounds.
“That's what we're seeing at the moment with United. They're spending a lot of money on players who haven’t yet played consistently well year after year.
“I get that because obviously the other clubs might jump in and buy the player, but I think with United they need to get their recruitment right. Because if you look through that team, there's a lot of issues there.
“When you look at United and the way they're playing and look at the players they've got, (finishing) eighth doesn't surprise me. It really doesn't.
“Hopefully things will change with Dan Ashworth coming in, but the recruitment has got to be spot on, has to be spot on to make a challenge next year.”
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