Man Utd told that hiring manager with ‘traitor’ tag would ‘be a bad choice’
INEOS have been told by a former Premier League chairman that replacing Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag with his assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy would “be a bad choice”.
Ten Hag is under the microscope and took his stuttering Red Devils to Aston Villa before the international break after a difficult start to the season continued with a 3-0 home loss at Tottenham and 3-3 draw in Porto.
Man Utd fought for a 0-0 draw against Unai Emery’s in-form side at Villa Park, where Sir Jim Ratcliffe was among those in attendance just days after sidestepping the opportunity to publicly back Ten Hag.
The co-owner was joined by key members of the leadership team for a stalemate that means they have eight points from their opening seven league matches – their lowest tally at this stage since collecting seven in 1989-90.
There have been rumours that Van Nistelrooy could take over from Ten Hag if INEOS and Ratcliffe decide that it’s time for change at Old Trafford.
But some recent reports in Spain have claimed that Van Nistelrooy ‘faces a personal dilemma: the concern of being seen as a traitor to his compatriot’.
And now former Everton chairman Keith Wyness insists that Man Utd legend Van Nistelrooy would be the wrong choice to replace Ten Hag as the club have now “created the Dutch tribal groups”.
Wyness told Football Insider: “I don’t know enough about Van Nistelrooy’s managerial career so far.
“I think he’d be a bad choice and I don’t think there’s the real support for him to do that.
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“I think they’ll go another route of ex-Man United player. I understand an ex-Man United player does make a difference and Van Nistelrooy fits that bill, but I don’t think he’s necessarily the right one.
“We saw some pointed discussion between him and Ten Hag on the bench at the weekend. I don’t know how happy that backroom staff is.
“As I pointed out in weeks gone by, they’ve now created the Dutch tribal groups, both behind the scenes and actually on the pitch.
“That’s a real issue for them that I’ve been warning against for a long time.”
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