Is Ten Hag after the sack?

[wolvored]

I was discussing this in the pub last night and we were comparing with Mourinho. He went to the press to get the sack, but maybe TH is picking the same midfield when he can, with mainly the same predictable results. At Liverpool when he changed it, it wasn’t brilliant, but better functioning and was expecting similar at WHU. He could have swapped Bruno and McTom for example, as McTom could have come on as ‘super sub’ like against Brentford. If he just quit he wouldn’t get paid out, but if sacked he would. I think he goes anyway one way or the other, I reckon and the more bad results it will be sooner rather than later.
I’m probably thinking bollocks, but does anyone else wonder this?

 

[The Cat]

No I think he just doesn't know how to change things.

 

[clarkydaz]

Think he is just out of ideas. He said in preseason the players wernt doing what he wanted, so we are now just treading water until the decision is made

 

[el3mel]

Mourinho didn't want to get sacked and neither is Ten Hag. May these conspiracy theories die at one point. The issues are simpler than this. He's just failing at his job, similar to Mourinho, LVG and Ole. Not everything has to be explained by conspiracy.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Fml

 

[peridigm]

Unlike Jose, I don’t think ETH is taking jobs to get massive payouts when he doesn’t walk the league and ends up having a meltdown. I do see similarities though when it comes to man managment. ETH may not be as direct as Jose in that regard but he’s certainly picked his battles. ETH seems out of his depth with transfers, tactics, man management, and game management. He probably realizes now that not all players are cut for the PL. We have a lot of starting 11 players missing but we didn’t in the first weeks of the season. I don’t think if we had all players fit, we’d see much different. He’s out of ideas and options and is probably expecting the sack when the new bosses are in place.

 

[Plant0x84]

No, he is inclined to fight to the end I think. Stubborn and determined. He just doesn’t have a ton of options at the moment. The team basically picks itself.

By all accounts Bayindir is worse than Onana and it feels a bit like ETH is trying to play the latter in to some kind of form. He has 4 out of 5 first choice CB out, so Kambwala had to play next to Johnny Evans. Luke Shaw is head and shoulders above at LB, though I guess RB is debatable.

Kobbie and Garnacho have played there way into the team on merit, he only has McT and Amrabat in the middle and Amrabat looked gassed against Liverpool so it had to be Scott next to Mainoo. Bruno is captain and gets the 10 spot, first name on the team sheet. There isn’t a lot of choice at RW or CF so Antony and Rasmus get the nod, then our bench is made up of players who won’t play and youth teamers.

It’s grim right now!

 

[Tyrion]

I was discussing this in the pub last night and we were comparing with Mourinho. He went to the press to get the sack, but maybe TH is picking the same midfield when he can, with mainly the same predictable results. At Liverpool when he changed it, it wasn’t brilliant, but better functioning and was expecting similar at WHU. He could have swapped Bruno and McTom for example, as McTom could have come on as ‘super sub’ like against Brentford. If he just quit he wouldn’t get paid out, but if sacked he would. I think he goes anyway one way or the other, I reckon and the more bad results it will be sooner rather than later.
I’m probably thinking bollocks, but does anyone else wonder this?

Fans always think the team not picked would have worked better so thinking the manager must want to be sacked because he isn't using their brilliant ideas (that are fully tested on Football Manager) is probably pretty common.

 

[El Presidente]

The fact that you’d even think any top level manager is actively sabotaging himslelf in order to get sacked is bonkers.

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

Solid effort if he is.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

He’s at the start of his career and his reputation isn’t really in a place where he can keep expecting to get cash grab jobs.

I think he’s extremely stubborn like most Dutch managers and if something isn’t working, his reaction isn’t one of humility, where he is ready to accept he got it wrong but instead he believes the players aren’t executing it right and doubles down under pressure.

 

[Big Ben Foster]

No. He's just not very good.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

No. He's just not very good.

This./

13 losses before New Year with 2 games to go & another loss likely is proof enough the guy is not up to the job.

 

[Denis79]

I just think that he's stubborn. Just doing the same until whatever end.

 

[stevoc]

Struggling managers get stuck in a rut and don't know how to get out of it.

Playing medicore players regularly like McTominay is a symptom of that.

 

[Westerkerk]

I don't think he is after the sack no, but like any manager that is under pressure, seemingly unable to turn the tide, and who's players seem to have fully given up, he's on borrowed time and probably knows it. He'll keep digging is heels in until the inevitable time when he is relieved of his duties and gets his payday. Then he'll be able to eventually come out and probably rightly expose how badly run the club is.

I do think his sacking is somewhat inevitable and is a matter of when and not if. I do not see this club succeeding to the expected levels, which doesn't have to be winning the league in the first 3-4 seasons to be fair, under any manager currently.

Whoever comes in next I honestly feel in 1-2 seasons we'll be in the exact same position and having the exact same conversations and that's the saddest part.

 

[Ludens the Red]

Mourinho didn't want to get sacked and neither is Ten Hag. May these conspiracy theories die at one point. The issues are simpler than this. He's just failing at his job, similar to Mourinho, LVG and Ole. Not everything has to be explained by conspiracy.

Yeah, I think Mourinho had grown so frustrated by the end but he deffo wanted to remain as manager. If you want to talk trying to get sacked look no further than Conte at Spurs. That was the greatest display at trying to get sacked I’ve ever seen

 

[Siorac]

No, he's still before it.

 

[Melville Red]

He dd say that the players just need to stick to the plan. What plan I’m not sure but maybe his plan is to get the sack and a nice pay off. Maybe he has reached the conclusion that he fecked up in the transfer market, ie Antony a left footed right winger??? Onana a shite goalkeeper which cost a lot of money when we could have got a PL proven keeper from Brentford who is now settling in quite nicely at Arsenal after a dodgy but not near as dodgy a start as our Onana.
Our big money striker Rasmus H is pure fecking dog toffee, worse than Weghurst we might as well have saved the cash for a proven striker, that’s roughly £200million wasted on three players who are not PL standard. Amrabat is no improvement on McTom, who gets a rough ride on this forum.
Then there is the coaching, why isn’t Rasmus scoring? Is he getting the chances? I would say no but is that down to our midfield failing to create or him failing to put himself in the right place at the right time? Either way you would think that the training ground would address these issues but there is no style of play no clear cut pattern of play and no plan that I can see to put this mess right.
I really hoped this season would be a breakthrough season after last season and winning the League Cup but alas that looks more and more like a false uprising.
I would sack him but there is no one to replace him so we just have to ride out this season and see where it takes us and ETH.

 

[Bestofthebest]

I think ten Hag is unable to find a way for the team to play because he has little knowledge of how the EPL works and doesn’t have the right personnel. He needs to try something different but that could be catastrophic.

 

[davidmichael]

I don’t think ETH is as devious and calculating as Jose was/is, Jose was blatantly trying to get a payout after kicking off about funds that summer then doing things like playing McTominay and Herrera at centre back all whilst throwing all the players under the bus.

I think with ETH it’s simply he’s out of his depth and extremely stubborn/loyal to his way of playing, it’s similar to how Frank de Boer had everything set up perfectly for him to succeed at Ajax and was made to look like the next big thing in management only to be found out when he didn’t have the same structure.

If ETH had sense he would set us up in a 4-2-3-1 and play on the counter which is how the players we have in the squad are best in playing whilst finding form and building confidence but he’s stuck to this 4-1-4-1 all season whilst refusing to drop Fernandes even though he’s a liability in that formation, continually playing McTominay, playing Dalot at left back, persisting with Rashford, picking Martial and persisting with Antony.

 

[RedOrange]

The fact that you’d even think any top level manager is actively sabotaging himslelf in order to get sacked is bonkers.

On the pitch no. Mourinho and Conte both start public feuds with players and club executives out of nowhere, typically just after they've got a new contract and a massive payout if they're sacked.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

I think ten Hag is unable to find a way for the team to play because he has little knowledge of how the EPL works and doesn’t have the right personnel. He needs to try something different but that could be catastrophic.

Having managed in the league for a year then identifying Mount as a CM, Hojlund as a big Summer striker signing & Onana in a non possession based team, should have rang alarm bells.

You can partially forgive Antony as he was new to the league but to identify times players after a full year here shows he hadn’t got to grips with the league at all.

 

[neon_badger]

I always find the word sacked a bit strange in this context. I don't think he's actively looking to get sacked but if his time here comes to an end I doubt he'll be too disappointed.

 

[m1tch]

I reckon he knows he's lost half the team, and knows that means he's going to get the sack after a run of bad results.

I reckon he thinks he hasn't got the squad to win with an alternative set of players, so is just hanging out to dry the under performers on a weekly basis to show everyone what they are. What's frustrating is the next manager probably gives all these blaggers a fresh start when they come in.

 

[Ayoba]

Nah, he just doesnt know how to fix the problem, which was evident against Lens in the pre-season game.

 

[El Presidente]

On the pitch no. Mourinho and Conte both start public feuds with players and club executives out of nowhere, typically just after they've got a new contract and a massive payout if they're sacked.

I think that’s just Mourinho and Conte. They have no filter and have always been a bit weird like that.
Also, important to note, that them two already had world class reputation by that time. Ten Hag still has everything to prove and if he fails here, chances are he won’t get another shot at this level.
Simply put, you don’t reach this level in any career path, by being apathetic to failure.

 

[Oscar Bonavena]

Then he'll be able to eventually come out and probably rightly expose how badly run the club is.

I wonder if a big part of his exposé about how badly run the club is, will focus on how much funds he was given to personally handpick players who turned out to be complete duds?

 

[RoyH1]

My experience with dutch managers is that they're stubborn as can be. Ten Hag fits that to a T.

 

[Huddsred]

The fact that you’d even think any top level manager is actively sabotaging himslelf in order to get sacked is bonkers.

To be fair Conte was desperate to get relieved of his duties at Spurs last season. But is Ten Hag actively trying to get sacked from United? Nah, he's too principled. He's just out of his depth.

 

[Dans]

Frankly, I don't think Ten Hag has the personality to manage a group of players like we have. He doesn't even come across as your average cosmopolitan Dutchman, rather a farmer type whose bluntness might work in his own country or with a minor German team, but not in the Premier League.

 

[tomaldinho1]

I think more this is the way he’s trying to evolve is towards and he will stick to it until his last day. I’m torn because we need to change the midfield setup and I knew there’d be a lot of issues but then he chose some of our midfielders.

 

[massiveissue]

My experience with dutch managers is that they're stubborn as can be. Ten Hag fits that to a T.

My experience with the Dutchies is the same, they're stubborn as feck and they're quite direct, which won't work with these soft ass millennial players.

There's also the other issue at hand, this payout would be worth more than he made in his entire career, which should have been a worry from the start.

 

[Garethw]

His desperate comments about last seasons “success” show he’s fighting to keep his job.

I just don’t think he knows what to do. Better managers than him have failed in the PL. There’s no disgrace in that.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

Frankly, I don't think Ten Hag has the personality to manage a group of players like we have. He doesn't even come across as your average cosmopolitan Dutchman, rather a farmer type whose bluntness might work in his own country or with a minor German team, but not in the Premier League.

I think it was Ji-Sung Park who once said he was out of the team for a few weeks & Sir Alex pulled him aside saying ‘I’m saving you for the game against X team’ which gave him a boost.

I don’t think the man management of elite coaches gets enough notice. There are obviously a number of factors [Sancho, Ronaldo are extreme circumstances] but EtH seems incapable of keeping the squad harmonious, the handling of DdG, the handling of Maguire last year then Varane this year.

It’s hard to talk about him when we don’t know him personally but part of management and a to gain buy in with the squad you have whilst it transitions. We’d all love 23 new players in but that isn’t going to happen so maximising what you’ve got is key & he, for whatever reason, is pissing people off.

 

[Vidyoyo]

I don't think he's after the sack there's possibly some damage limitation from decisions like picking the same midfield because looking like you've got no ideas is a death knell for modern managers while staying true to your 'vision' presents you as a manger who offers something, which is more attractive to potential suitors looking to pick up your services.

 

[Scorpy]

No, he's just clueless and desperate. This combo usually doesn't lead to anything good.

 

[siw2007]

No.

I think due to circumstances, some of which he has created himself, he is losing control of the job. He has spent a lot of money in the transfer market to add his own players to an already disillusioned group and is left with a crop of players that are unable to perform the way he wants. This is down to injuries, low confidence and in a lot of cases, players just not being good enough for us.

At this point, his only hope this season, is that he can hang on for mid January, to get his players back and then if he is right, then he should get this team playing well again. Skeptical though.

 

[frostbite]

The sack is after Ten Hag.

 

[devilish]

It's strange how every manager we have ends up playing tumescent football with a big guy as an attacking midfielder whose role is to score a goal. Surely it cannot be the case of every manager wanting to be sacked