Gary Neville insists ‘there is NO way Man United should sack Erik ten Hag this season’ – as Red Devils legend labels that idea as ‘nonsense’ before blasting the Glazer family for ’10 years of failure and miserable recruitment’

Gary Neville has claimed Manchester United should not sack Erik ten Hag this season, branding the idea as ‘nonsense’, as pressure mounts on the Dutch manager after the Red Devils suffered a 3-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth on Saturday. 

After guiding United to the League Cup title last season and to third in the Premier League table, Ten Hag’s side have endured a turbulent start to the 2023-24 campaign, with the Red Devils currently sixth in the Premier League standings having lost seven games. 

Saturday’s performance against Bournemouth has also sounded some alarm bells, with Neville blasting his former side on social media for their lack of consistency, before calling their performance ‘lackadaisical’, with Ten Hag taking the blame for his side’s lacklustre performance.

Speaking on whether the 53-year-old is the right man for the job, Neville claimed that the Red Devils should not part ways with their head coach, admitting his concern that they could fall back into the cycle of sacking a manager but making no subsequent improvement.

Pressure is mounting on the Dutch manager after the club have endured a tumultuous start to the 2023-23 season, with United losing 3-0 at home to Bournemouth on Saturday

‘There’s no way they should change him this season,’ Neville said in an interview with Sky Sports on Sunday afternoon. ‘This idea of sacking him is absolute nonsense, I wouldn’t be in favour of that anyway. 

‘The lack of leadership and structure above him, I know people say “you can’t blame the Glazers” yeah you can! Because 10 years of failure and miserable recruitment comes down to the fact that they’ve not got a sporting director, a proper head of recruitment in place. 

‘That’s why this happens, it’s because ultimately managers and coaches look above them and say “I haven’t got anyone there so I’ll try and do it myself.” This is all down to the leadership. 

‘If it happened once fair enough. If it happens twice, you’d say “ask the question”. This has happened five times in ten years. They’ve spent a billion quid, they’re on the limit with FFP, they’re £700million in debt, they owe £300m to other clubs. They bank overdrafts at £250m-£300m. 

‘Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s going to have to come in and sort it out and you’ve got to wonder about how he’s going to pull it out. That’s the concern I have.’

Reports suggest that Ratcliffe’s investment in the club is ‘edging closer’ with INEOS representatives Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc having ‘met with United executives at Old Trafford’. 

On the pitch, United have a tough string of fixtures coming up, with the Red Devils set to welcome Bayern Munich at home this week in the Champions League, before they travel to Anfield to take on league-leaders Liverpool on Sunday.

They have also amassed an unwanted record of having now lost more games at home, 35, since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 than the legendary manager lost at Old Trafford in his entire career, 34. 

Neville pointed the finger at the club’s owners, the Glazers, blaming them for ’10 years of failure’ 

The former Manchester United defender also said that Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is reportedly on the cusp of buying a minority stake in the club,  ‘will have to come in and sort it out’

United face a tough string of fixtures ahead of them, with the Red Devils set to take on Bayern Munich this week before they travel to Anfield to play Liverpool 

While United have not fired on the pitch this season, the Dutch manager has also had to overcome several off-field issues this season too, including a feud with Jadon Sancho and more recently, accusations that his dressing room was fractured. 

‘I fear for him generally, not really because of this week, Bayern Munich and Liverpool will take care of itself,’ Neville said, speaking on Ten Hag. ‘What will happen will happen. Just more generally about the actual way in which a cycle is repeating itself again.’

The Sky Sports pundit added: ‘I’ve been here so many times before over the last four or five, six, seven eight years. It’s happening again before our eyes.

‘I hope that somehow Erik ten Hag can turn it around this season and he can improve what’s happening at the moment. Unless he will be in trouble, it’s just inevitable, we’ve seen it with Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer], Jose and Louis van Gaal.’