Must do better...Make no mistake, Ten Hag remains on trial at United

AFTER what United sources described as a 'more thorough review than usual' at the end of the season, they have decided to stick rather than twist. Erik ten Hag will remain as the club's manager into 2024/25.

- TYRONE MARSHALL

Labelling this a more thorough review than usual is certainly one way of looking at it. No other club courted other managers before deciding to keep the one they currently had.

Presumably, that won't be the Ineos modus operandi every summer...

It's been a mess since the FA Cup final was won and the reason they are sticking with Ten Hag is that they couldn't find a replacement they were truly convinced by. So the 54-year-old, winner of two trophies in two seasons, stays on, but the events have significantly weakened his position since May 25.

Ten Hag has taken charge of 114 matches as United manager but he heads into his third season at the club on trial. He might yet sign a new contract but we all know contracts don't really make a jot of difference. Ineos aren't convinced by him and he has to deliver quickly to make sure he lasts in this job into 2025.

It's there in some of the language being used to talk about the end-of-season review. Nobody has said that it concluded that the Dutchman was the best man for the job, or that if this had been a process starting from scratch he would have got the gig. Instead, the talk is that he 'deserves a chance to show what more he is capable of within the new sporting structure we are building'.

Translation: You've got one more chance and it needs to be better than what we've seen so far.