Erik ten Hag sacked LIVE: Manchester United line up next manager with Ruud van Nistelrooy named interim boss

Gareth Southgate

The former England manager is still out of work after leaving the national team following defeat by Spain in the Euro 2024 final, and is known to be admired by United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his director of sport at Ineos, Sir Dave Brailsford.

Southgate’s club coaching experience is limited, having taken charge of Middlesbrough for three years and left 15 years ago, so Southgate is reliant on his work with England to convince United’s Ineos owners he has what it takes to lead a Premier League giant.

He was hugely popular with the England players and came within a penalty shout of delivering men’s major silverware for the first time since 1966. He also showed an adeptness at handling media scrutiny and difficult topics, from the infamous bust-up between Raheem Sterling and Joe Gomez, to the racist abuse of his players, to relentless criticism of his own shortcomings.

But those shortcomings became so magnified that his role effectively became untenable. In particular, Southgate was condemned for a hesitation to make substitutions and in-game tactical changes, as well as a broadly pragmatic approach that lacked adventure.

Ruben Amorim

Amorim is one of the most highly regarded young coaches in European football and has been linked with a number of managerial posts in recent months, from Barcelona to Chelsea.

The midfielder enjoyed a successful playing career with Belenenses and Benfica, winning three league titles with the Portuguese giants, but his career was cut short by a knee injury and he retired at 32.

Amorim caught the attention with success in the Portuguese League Cup in his second job, in charge of Braga, and was poached by Sporting CP in 2020. He delivered the title to end the club’s 19-year wait, and repeated the feat last season. Sporting are currently top of the league once more and well placed to defend their crown. They lie eighth in the Champions League table with two wins and a draw.

Amorim would be something of a coup but he is an unknown quantity, having spent almost his entire playing and coaching career in Portugal to date. He is also reluctant to leave Sporting mid-season, as revealed by The Independent on Monday, and it is thought United would need to pay around €20m to break his contract.

Ruud van Nistelrooy

The Dutchman was brought to the club by Erik ten Hag in the summer as an assistant coach, and now finds himself thrust into the limelight as the interim manager after Ten Hag’s sacking. An interim role can often be a chance to audition for the permanent job, but Van Nistelrooy will need to impress quickly, given his lack of experience in senior positions.

Since retiring as a player in 2012 after a glorious career plundering goals for PSV, United, and Real Madrid, the Dutchman has spent most of his coaching career in charge of youth teams at PSV. He was handed the reins to the first team in March 2022, and won the Dutch Cup in his first full season, but departed after a fallout with the club’s hierarchy.

The relatively untested 48-year-old would be a bold appointment, but he is a popular figure at Old Trafford and a quick upturn in results could see fans get behind his candidacy amid a shortage of elite options.

Only Ipswich Town (47 minutes and 9 seconds) have been in the lead for less time in the Premier League this season than Manchester United (108 minutes and 5 seconds).

Manchester United forward Rasmus Hojlund has posted on his Instagram story after Erik ten Hag’s sacking.

He wrote: “Thanks for everything boss. Wish you all the best in the future.”

With Ruud van Nistelrooy now operating as interim head coac for Manchester United here’s what he faces in his first few games.

First up are Leicester City in the Carabao Cup at Old Trafford. The match takes place on Wednesday evening which is an incredibly short turn around.

After that, they play Chelsea in the Premier League this weekend and PAOK in Europe next week before another home game against Leicester in the league.

Four matches in quick succession is certainly a test but Van Nistelrooy could come out of it with credit in the bank if he wins all those games.

There was a time when Manchester United came to West Ham, Wayne Rooney took aim from 57 yards and scored. Many a comparison with the past can damn this United side but, a decade on, Diogo Dalot came to West Ham, took aim at an unguarded goal from eight yards and missed. Whether it was excruciating or merely amusing depends on your perspective, but it was costly, summing up Manchester United’s self-destructive streak.

They contrived to lose a game in which they had been absurdly, astonishingly dominant before the break. Dalot was the worst offender but not the only one. “I collected six or seven 100 percent chances we should have scored,” said Erik Ten Hag. “But in football the best team does not always win.” And United’s finest half of the season still led to a fourth defeat.

BBC Sport are reporting on the net spend each Manchester United manager has had since Sir Alex Ferguson’s time at the club with the figures broken down below.

Erik ten Hag has the highest net spend (money spent minus money recouped from sales) of any Manchester United boss since Sir Alex Ferguson.

David Moyes (2013-14) £60.7m - Total: £60.7m

Louis Van Gaal (2014-16) £110m + £41.3m - Total: £151.3m

Jose Mourinho (2016-2018) £104m + £135m + £49m - Total: £288m

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (2019-21) £143m + £66.5m + £97.4m - Total: £306.9m

Erik Ten Hag (2022-24) £187.8m + £118.20m + £95m - Total: £401m

(Figures provided by FootballTransfers.com for BBC Sport)

Thomas Frank said he is “very, very happy” at Brentford but did not rule out leaving the club in the future if there was an “opportunity” that interested him after Erik ten Hag was sacked by Manchester United.

Frank has developed a reputation as one of the most innovative coaches in Europe since taking Brentford to the Premier League and was reportedly one of several managers to hold talks with United over the summer as the club sounded out potential replacements for Ten Hag.

United instead opted to back Ten Hag and trigger a one-year contract extension, but results failed to improve and the Dutchman was dismissed on Monday after the club’s worst start to a Premier League season.

Erik ten Hag has been relieved of his duties at Manchester United head coach following a 2-1 defeat to West Ham on Sunday 27th October.

Ten Hag’s team sit 14th in the Premier League with three wins, two draws and four defeats from their first nine games of the season. It is the worst start to a Premier League campaign at this stage in the club’s history.

The Dutchman’s two seasons in charge have brought a Carabao Cup and an FA Cup to Old Trafford but a lack of style and a failure to imprint his own vision on the team has led to his downfall.