EPL: We made a mistake – United co-owner Ratcliffe on sacking Ten Hag
Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has admitted it was a mistake not to sack Erik ten Hag in the summer.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Ratcliffe praised the “excellent job” being done by current head coach Rúben Amorim.
Ten Hag signed an extended contract following United’s 2-1 win over Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
However, the Dutchman was dismissed after just nine matches this season.
Ratcliffe has now said he, chief executive Omar Berrada, INEOS director of sport Sir Dave Brailsford, and the club’s technical director Jason Wilcox failed to reach the right conclusion on Ten Hag’s future.
The Red Devils sit 14th in the league table, 36 points behind leaders Liverpool, who are on course to equal their record of 20 league titles.
However, Ratcliffe says he can see signs of progress under Amorim, despite the Portuguese coach winning just five of his 17 Premier League games in charge.
“It was too early for us to make a big decision in reality,” Ratcliffe explained about their decision-making in the summer.
“We hadn’t been together as a team for very long. It was just a matter of weeks, and it’s quite a big decision, isn’t it? And also, it’s quite difficult. It was quite difficult to extract, in that season when we arrived, Erik’s performance from the structure around him.”
When asked if he now regrets it, Ratcliffe said: “Yeah, it was the wrong decision. We made the wrong decision. It was an error. So yeah, I suppose in that sense, I regret it.
“I think there were some extenuating or mitigating circumstances in having made that decision, but at the end of the day, it was the wrong decision, so hands up, me of course, on that one.”
EPL: We made a mistake – United co-owner Ratcliffe on sacking Ten Hag
