Man United owner Ratcliffe declines to show support for Ten Hag

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester United minority owner Jim Ratcliffe refused to say if he had faith in manager Erik ten Hag on Friday.

The British billionaire, who bought a 27.7% stake in the 20-time English champion in February, has overhauled United’s soccer department. He said the decision over Ten Hag’s future rested in the hands of the executive he has put in place to run the club.

Ten Hag is under intense scrutiny after another troubled start to the season and, asked if he had faith, Ratcliffe told the BBC, “I don’t want to answer that question.

“I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach, but at the end of the day it’s not my call, it’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.”

Ratcliffe assumed control of United’s soccer operations after investing $1.3 billion for his minority stake. The sporting side had previously been under the control of the majority owning American Glazer family.

A new CEO, Omar Berrada, and sporting director, Dan Ashworth, have been installed. There’s a new technical director, Jason Wilcox, while key figures at Ratcliffe’s Ineos Sport, Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc, have been appointed to the board.

“They weren’t there in January, February, March or April — Omar, Dan Ashworth — they only arrived in July. They’ve only been there … you can count it in weeks almost. They need to take stock and make some sensible decisions,” Ratcliffe said.

“Our objective is very clear — we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it’s not there yet, obviously, that’s very clear.”

Ten Hag kept his job only after an extensive end-of-season review, which included winning the FA Cup.

Berrada and Ashworth said in September he had their full backing, but United has lost three of its first six Premier League games this season to sit 13th in the standings. Fans booed and left early as United was humbled by Tottenham 3-0 last week.

On Thursday against Porto in the Europa League, United needed a stoppage-time goal from substitute Harry Maguire to salvage a 3-3 draw.

The Dutchman repeatedly says he believes he has the support of his hierarchy.

“We are in there together — the ownership, the leadership team, the staff,” he said on Thursday. “I appointed a new staff, we bought, again, new young players, and we have to integrate them.”

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer