Man Utd will sack Ten Hag after FA Cup final even if he WINS – as four-man manager shortlist is drawn up
MANCHESTER UNITED will sack Erik ten Hag after the FA Cup final – even if they WIN.
The club has already drawn up a four-man shortlist to replace the Dutchman.
The Red Devils take on Manchester City at Wembley Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
But Ten Hag, 54, seems to have run out of time as he will be axed regardless of the result.
SunSport exclusively revealed that this was the case last month and now the Guardian have told how the Dutchman’s fate is sealed.
He will leave Old Trafford whether or not he wins the final against the cross-city rivals.
Kieran McKenna and Mauricio Pochettino have been touted as potential replacements.
McKenna has achieved great success in his short managerial career.
He has led Ipswich Town to the Premier League after back-to-back promotions from League One.
Pochettino, however, is a free agent after leaving Chelsea following the end of the season.
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Thomas Tuchel is also on the shortlist as the German has walked out of Bayern Munich following their first trophyless season since 2012.
The fourth name on the list is Brentford coach Thomas Frank.
Ten Hag's five worst defeats
ERIK TEN HAG has suffered some heavy defeats during his tenure as Manchester United manager.
5. Copenhagen 4-3 Man Utd, November 2023
The damaging defeat saw the Red Devils dumped out of the Champions League.
4. Man Utd 0-3 Bournemouth, December 2023
It was the first time the Cherries had ever won at Old Trafford with the players being booed off.
3. Brentford 4-0 Man Utd, August 2022
Perhaps a sign of things to come, in Ten Hag’s second Premier League game, his side was dismantled by the Bees.
2. Crystal Palace 4-0 Man Utd, May 2024
The heavy defeat to the Eagles saw the Dutchman edge ever closer to the sack.
1. Liverpool 7-0 Man Utd, March 2023
Man Utd were embarrassed at the hands of their bitter rivals as they crumbled at Anfield as it was the club’s worst defeat in 92 years.
The Dane has built up a good reputation due to his work at the Bees as he has cemented the team in England’s top flight.
Ten Hag had been linked with a quick return to management at Bayern.
But Vincent Kompany appears to be the top candidate at the Allianz Arena.
Ten Hag did win the League Cup in his first season in charge and achieved a top-four finish.
However, this season has been calamitous, with a record-low finish in the Premier League.
This came on top of exiting the Champions League with a whimper and bottom of their group.
Erik ten Hag's Man Utd record
Here is a look at Erik ten Hag's record in charge of Manchester United.
Games: 113
Wins: 67
Draws: 15
Losses: 31
Goals scored: 205
Goals conceded: 155
Points per game: 1.91
Honours: EFL Cup x1 (2023)
THE RISE AND RISE OF McKENNA
Few managers have risen so dramatically as Kieran McKenna.
But then few were tipped for coaching success so young.
London-born McKenna, now 38, retired as a player aged just 22 due to a chronic hip injury.
He’d begun with Northern Irish sides Enniskillen Town United and Ballinamallard United before joining Tottenham in 2002.
But by the time he was forced to quit seven years later, he’d failed to make a single senior appearance.
However, after graduating from Loughborough University, Spurs appointed him Head of Academy Performance Analysis.
It was then, in two years guiding Manchester United Under-18 where his reputation soared fastest.
Having won the Premier League Northern Division title, McKenna was promoted all the way up to Jose Mourinho’s assistant in 2018, remaining high up in the backroom under Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Ralf Rangnick.
Ipswich took the plunge on him in 2021.
And after an impressive half-season in League One, he took the Tractor Boys up in his first full campaign – repeating the feat this term to restore the club’s long-lost top-flight status.
Now, one way or another, McKenna is poised for his greatest challenge in management – either keeping Ipswich up or moving to a major club.
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