INEOS rated ‘one out of 10’ for Ten Hag sack timing as Amorim challenged to turn back clock at Man Utd

Stan Collymore has rated INEOS “one out of 10” for failing to sack Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag in the summer, as he challenged Ruben Amorim to “gravitate back towards” an old style of leadership.

Ten Hag had United 14th in the Premier League when he was finally sacked in his third season at the club. In his first, they finished third, but last term they came eighth – their worst ever finish in the competition.

Reports at the time suggested his position was in danger after the big slip, and Collymore has hit out at sir Jim Ratcliffe and his company, INEOS, for not acting then, before making the right choice this week.

“INEOS get a one or two out of 10 for not getting rid of Erik ten Hag last June, but 10 out of 10 for actually doing it when it needed to be done – i.e right now,” he told Caught Offside.

“I think that most people thought that when he got the contract extension, that meant that Ten Hag would get till the end of the season. That INEOS would then basically look at the situation and make a decision based on that.

“But the results and performance are more important. They’ve been so poor that making the decision now was absolutely the right thing to do.”

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Amorim challenged to be a proper manager

Collymore also feels that Amorim, who is closing in on the United job, needs to be more of a conventional manager than Ten Hag was, who he thinks was more of a coach.

“In terms of Ruben Amorim taking over, he’s a guy that is well respected and well regarded as a coach, has a very defined way of playing, like [Jurgen] Klopp, [Arne] Slot and Pep [Guardiola],” Collymore said.

“My theory is that we’re getting back to the days of an old-fashioned manager. Not just a head coach that gets out on the training pitch but someone who manages people.

“Erik ten Hag had the ability to coach but he wasn’t a manager. You could tell he didn’t have the respect or the charisma or the character to get people along the journey with him. He massively and painfully lacked that, to the point that at times you thought to yourself, is he deluded?

“What Manchester United need now is a manager. Unai Emery is a classic example. People say he’s a really good coach and he’s got a defined style of play which he absolutely has, but you look at him and the way that the players talk about him.

“If Amorim is going to be successful, he has to gravitate back towards a situation that worked for over 100 years in association football; be a manager that has coaching ability.

“Be a man that has the belief, the spirit, the soul, the character and the personality to bring your players along with you, every step of the way. Let’s see what he’s got.”

Man Utd round-up: Squad changes expected

Many of United’s players could see their roles altered under Amorim, given his preference to play the 3-4-3 formation, a big change to utilising a back four, which United do at the moment.

TEAMtalk sources believe that Marcus Rashford is ‘very happy’ with the hire of a manager who ‘greatly appreciates’ his attacking prowess, as the forward feels he can get back to his best under the Portuguese boss.

Manuel Ugarte is likely to be rubbing his hands at working with his former Sporting boss, reports suggest.

But Bruno Fernandes’ role could disappear in the new system, and it’s been posed whether or not he will be needed by United at all.

Signings will also be made soon as Amorim looks to shape his squad, and TEAMtalk understands that Goncalo Inacio, Marcus Edwards and Pedro Goncalves – all of whom currently play for Sporting – are of interest to the manager.

But a signing from within England, Chris Rigg, could be tough, with a report suggesting Sunderland will shut down United’s approach for him.

Ten Hag was failing at United

Erik ten Hag record at Man Utd