Sir Jim Ratcliffe picks 'brilliant fit' Man Utd legend as next manager as Dutchman is told he's 'not got long left'

Manchester United chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe is ready to hand Ruud van Nistelrooy the task of replacing Erik ten Hag it has been claimed, with the Red Devils assistant boss seen as an ideal fit and how long he will be given to prove himself also coming to light.

Ten Hag is a man under intense pressure after a seriously underwhelming start to the new season that has seen the Red Devils picking up just three wins from their eight matches played so far. And with three losses in just six Premier League games to his name, Manchester United currently find themselves down in 12th place in the table and nearer the relegation zone than they are the Champions League places.

As a result, speculation over Ten Hag‘s future is ramping up and there are serious claims that the axe will soon fall.

In the short-term we revealed that United are ready to turn to Van Nistelrooy as an interim replacement, and now our sources have been vindicated elsewhere.

Now the club’s former chief scout Mick Brown claims Ten Hag “doesn’t have long left” and reckons the Red Devils hierarchy “will feel they’ve got to put a marker down in the sand”.

“From what I hear, he doesn’t have long left, the way things are going,” Brown told Football Insider.

“I wouldn’t be surprised by whatever happens, but getting rid of the manager at this time of year means they’ll have to find a replacement quickly.

“But they will feel they’ve got to put a marker down in the sand.

“They need to show the players, the supporters, and everybody else that this isn’t good enough and they won’t put up with it.

“That’s the statement they want to make – this has not been good enough. They’d be doing that if they were to let him go.

“Ten Hag is coming up with the same stuff every week and it’s not working. That will be a major concern for the club.”

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Van Nistelrooy to become next Man Utd manager? What else is being said?

With a critical week ahead with matches away to FC Porto in the Europa League and Aston Villa in the Premier League, defeat in both will surely leave the club with little other option.

And while sources have told us that it is ‘just a matter of time’ before Ten Hag is removed, Brown also believes Van Nistelrooy will be a ‘brilliant fit’ for the United job and suggests he will be given the chance to earn the role on a permanent basis.

“Ruud van Nistelrooy has come in, and I know him, he’s a top-class person. I was instrumental in signing Ruud. I think he’d be a brilliant fit.

“But at the moment, he can only do what the manager instructs him to do, so we haven’t seen too much of what he’s capable of.

“They’re going to have to do something because I don’t think there’s a long list of candidates out there waiting for the job.

“I think they could give him the job on an interim basis and see how he goes.

“If he does well, they might end up appointing him to take over on a full-time basis, as there aren’t too many other options out there.”

Ten Hag, meanwhile, has admitted he needs to do two things to avoid the sack, but denies the club set him a target over the summer.

“It is never spoken of now you ask me the question – but what I think is we have to succeed,” Ten Hag told the media after Sunday’s comprehensive 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham.

“We have to win trophies, that is what this club stands for. This club also has the ambition to play on the highest platform and we want to achieve the Champions League. We have two routes, one is through the Premier League and one is through the Europa League.”

Ten Hag sack: Neville, Scholes and Lineker turn on Man Utd boss

With the inquest into Sunday’s defeat to Tottenham still going on, and with Rio Ferdinand calling the performance “powderpuff” and with Robbie Savage insisting “a big decision needs to be made”, a number of other pundits have also rinsed that display.

Gary Neville was quick off the mark, labelling the performance as “one of the worst he had ever seen under Ten Hag”.

His Sky Sports colleague, Jamie Redknapp, just admitted he “felt” for Ten Hag, while Match of the Day presenter, Gary Lineker, drew a damning assessment on his reign and having made a worrying prediction for the future.

Paul Scholes was also left majorly unimpressed, labelling United’s players as ‘dead’ and calling them an ‘uncoached’ side. The United legend also delivered a damning assessment of one of their major summer signings in a further setback to the United manager.

Van Nistelrooy stats as a manager so far

Van Nistelrooy as a player was a bona fide United legend, scoring 150 goals for the club in just 219 games.

Across his career, he also amassed an impressive 56 goals from 77 games in the Champions League – making him the competition’s sixth-most efficient goalscorer in its history.

But how does he rate as a manager?

So far, the 48-year-old has had limited experience, though he did lead PSV to KNVB Cup glory in his solitary season in charge. That season, PSV finished second behind runaway leaders, Feyenoord – managed by a certain Arne Slot – and with Van Nistelrooy having won 33 of his 51 matches in charge.

Whether that’s enough experience to take on the United job remains to be seen, though the player undoubtedly understands the club and knows what it takes to win.

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