Man Utd meeting Q&A - Sir Jim Ratcliffe's demand, Erik Ten Hag stance and potential replacements
Manchester United's leading lights were all present at a meeting earlier this week with talk of change in the dugout but Sir Jim Ratcliffe has, so far, stuck by Erik ten Hag
For Manchester United the status quo remains the same - even after their major figures gathered earlier this week.
Erik ten Hag is still in charge and with the international break nearly at the halfway point any potential change seems increasingly unlikely. The Dutchman survived his daunting set of away assignments, barely drawing against Porto and then taking a point from Aston Villa.
Neither performance did much to inspire though with the Manchester outfit spurning a two-goal lead in Portugal and then failing to fire as much as a shot during their goalless draw at Villa Park. All of that leaves them in the bottom half after seven games of the season.
That is their worst start to a Premier League campaign and, after more unwanted history last year, plenty are asking the same question - has anything changed?
Well over the past eight months the hierarchy has been dramatically restructured with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS coming on board. Several major individuals have been hired with the likes of Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox all taking on roles within the Old Trafford set-up. They all met for a meeting in London earlier this week, which lasted seven hours, but has resulted in no change thus far.
Despite the upheaval off the pitch there has been little change on it. Ratcliffe has spoken of his desire to take United back to the heights they experienced under Sir Alex Ferguson, but if anything they have gone in the opposite direction and some big calls must be made.
Mirror Football answers you questions following crunch talks earlier this week...
Who makes the decision on Ten Hag's future?
Well, Ratcliffe had claimed recently that it wasn't him, but ultimately the final call will rest with the INEOS billionaire and Joel Glazer. Ratcliffe arrived in Manchester and took control of football operations but, when quizzed by the BBC recently, said it "wasn't my call".
Instead he wanted the people he hired, the likes of Berrada and Ashworth, to ultimately make the decision. "It's the management team that's running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects," he said.
However it has since been reported that he and Glazer - ultimately two of the most senior men at the club - will be the ones to decide on the manager.
Was the meeting purely about Ten Hag's future?
The meeting in Mayfair earlier in the week attracted huge amounts of attention, largely because it could well have led to another change of manager in Manchester. The gathering though was long in the diary and came a day after major figures got together to discuss the future of the stadium.
On the Tuesday, Ratcliffe and co were in the capital with Ten Hag's future front and centre of the agenda. However it was far from a spontaneous meeting, born out of desperation, to decide whether or not they make an early-season change. Other issues on the agenda included early plans for the January transfer window, the redevelopment of Old Trafford and commercial and sponsorship deals.
What is Ten Hag's stance?
He remains defiant, as he has ever since the pressure first came on. He maintained for much of last season that he was the man to lead the club forward and, despite finishing a lowly eighth, saw his FA Cup final success as proof he should be allowed to remain in the role.
Ten Hag survived a summer review, landing himself a contract extension in the process, and has since insisted that he and the club's hierarchy chose to go forward together. He has heard nothing to contradict that. The Dutchman was also backed in the summer to the tune of well over £100m, but few of his new recruits have made much of an impact.
Currently Ten Hag finds himself on holiday. He routinely heads off during the international break and, despite the club's big wigs meeting without him, he's adamant he'll be in charge for United's next game against Brentford a week on Saturday.
How will Man Utd come to a decision?
Well it won't be without some serious thought. Ratcliffe and co may be very conscious of the optics. Ten Hag is a man they backed in the summer - to sack him so soon would be an admission they got their first major call as an ownership group seriously wrong.
According to the Independent, Ratcliffe wants United's major decision makers to continue using his INEOS firm's "evidence based" approach to ensure that all decisions are unanimous and based on facts and figures. The INEOS chief made his request for the "forensic" approach in the crunch meeting in London.
One figure is understood to have argued for a change to be made immediately in the dugout. However, another individual in the meeting warned of "disruption" that a change this early in the season could cause whilst also pointing to concerns over the lack of available replacements.
So who could replace Ten Hag?
Former England boss Gareth Southgate, Inter Milan head coach Simone Inzaghi and ex-Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel are those being considered as men who could come in for the Dutchman. Southgate has just come out and effectively ruled himself out, but never say never.
If the United hierarchy do decide to rid of Ten Hag then the club's former striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, currently part of the first-team coaching staff, would be called upon to take charge on an interim basis.
It is understood that Van Nistelrooy, who was only hired in the summer, has reservations about taking the role. He doesn't want to be seen as the man who came in to support Ten Hag, only to jump straight into his job if he was sacked.
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