Manchester United have sacked manager Erik ten Hag following the club's disappointing start to the season that sees them sit 14th in the Premier League table.
The Dutch coach, who took over at Old Trafford in the summer of 2022, saw his side fall to a frustrating 2-1 defeat at West Ham United on Sunday after securing just three wins from their opening nine league games.
They have also won just one of their last eight matches across all competitions and have begun their Europa League campaign with three successive draws.
“Erik ten Hag has left his role as Manchester United men's first-team manager,” said the club in a statement.
“Erik was appointed in April 2022 and led the club to two domestic trophies, winning the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024.
“We are grateful to Erik for everything he has done during his time with us and wish him well for the future.
“Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge of the team as interim head coach, supported by the current coaching team, while a permanent head coach is recruited.”
Man United managers total spend post Ferguson
Ten Hag left Dutch side Ajax to become the fifth permanent manager at United since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, following David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. German coach Ralf Rangnick had been in interim charge following Solskjaer's sacking in November 2021.
In his first season in charge, Ten Hag guided United to a third-place finish in the Premier League, as well as winning the League Cup after beating Newcastle United 2-0 at Wembley Stadium in what was the club's first trophy in six years.
The cracks quickly started appearing in his second season, though. United failed to make it through to the Champions League knockout stage after they finished bottom of their group – behind Bayern Munich, Copenhagen and Galatasaray – ending their European campaign before Christmas.
Their form in the Premier League was even more problematic as they finished the season eighth in the table in what was their lowest finish since 1990.
With the arrival of British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe as co-owner last December, the pressure had been building on Ten Hag with reports suggesting the Dutchman was set to be sacked during the summer following an internal performance review of the whole club.
But Ten Hag then secured a trophy for the second consecutive season when they surprisingly beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final, denying their local rivals a domestic double and earning himself a contract extension during the summer.
“In my discussions with the club, we have found complete unity in our vision for reaching those goals, and we are all strongly committed to making that journey together,” said Ten Hag after signing a deal that should have secured his future until 2026.
But there have been few signs that the new campaign was bringing a change in fortunes for Ten Hag who saw his side struggle for form, falling to league defeats against Brighton, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur – the latter two both humiliating 3-0 hammerings at Old Trafford.
In the second tier Europa League, United are 21st of 36 teams in the revamped competition after draws with FC Twente, Porto and Fenerbache, who are coached by former manager Mourinho.
Then on Sunday, Ten Hag's team conceded a controversial injury-time penalty at the London Stadium that Jarrod Bowen converted to earn three points for a Hammers outfit that had been thrashed 4-1 by Spurs the previous weekend.
Biggest club net spends during Ten Hag reign
Ten Hag called the defeat “unfair and unjust” after Matthijs de Ligt's challenge on Danny Ings was judged to be a penalty by referee David Coote after he had been sent to the pitchside monitor by VAR after originally ignoring West Ham appeals, but the fact remains United should have been out of sight by half-time after missing a host of chances.
“That is definitely not a clear and obvious mistake from the on-field referee,” insisted Ten Hag. “That's a third time I have felt injustice in the season and it has a big impact on our team and on our scores and where we are in the table. It's not right.”
Less than a day later, Ten Hag was gone with BBC Sport reporting that club sources were saying that, while it had been a difficult decision, it was a unanimous one with the 54-year-old informed on Monday morning.
With 70 wins from 128 games in charge, Ten Hag's 54.7 per cent win record is actually the second best of any United manager since Ferguson's exit – behind only Mourinho's 58.3 per cent. The Dutchman lost 27.3 per cent of his games though, ahead of only Moyes (29.4 per cent) and Ralf Rangnick (27.6)
Ten Hag also enjoyed a huge amount of backing in the transfer market, spending more than £560 million during his spell, more than any of the other post-Ferguson coaches, with Solskjaer the next highest spender at £400m.
POSSIBLE ENGLAND EURO 2020 SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope, Dean Henderson.
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kieran Trippier, Joe Gomez, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Tyrone Mings, Ben Chilwell, Fabian Delph.
Midfielders: Declan Rice, Harry Winks, Jordan Henderson, Ross Barkley, Mason Mount, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Forwards: Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Tammy Abraham, Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
Duterte Harry: Fire and Fury in the Philippines
Jonathan Miller, Scribe Publications
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
Ready Player One
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Rylance
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Tentative schedule of 2017/18 Ashes series
1st Test November 23-27, The Gabba, Brisbane
2nd Test December 2-6, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
3rd Test Dcember 14-18, Waca, Perth
4th Test December 26-30, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
5th Test January 4-8, Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Who are the Soroptimists?
The first Soroptimists club was founded in Oakland, California in 1921. The name comes from the Latin word soror which means sister, combined with optima, meaning the best.
The organisation said its name is best interpreted as ‘the best for women’.
Since then the group has grown exponentially around the world and is officially affiliated with the United Nations. The organisation also counts Queen Mathilde of Belgium among its ranks.
Racecard
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
THE NEW BATCH'S FOCUS SECTORS
AiFlux – renewables, oil and gas
DevisionX – manufacturing
Event Gates – security and manufacturing
Farmdar – agriculture
Farmin – smart cities
Greener Crop – agriculture
Ipera.ai – space digitisation
Lune Technologies – fibre-optics
Monak – delivery
NutzenTech – environment
Nybl – machine learning
Occicor – shelf management
Olymon Solutions – smart automation
Pivony – user-generated data
PowerDev – energy big data
Sav – finance
Searover – renewables
Swftbox – delivery
Trade Capital Partners – FinTech
Valorafutbol – sports and entertainment
Workfam – employee engagement
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
England Test squad
Ben Stokes (captain), Joe Root, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Three ways to get a gratitude glow
By committing to at least one of these daily, you can bring more gratitude into your life, says Ong.
- During your morning skincare routine, name five things you are thankful for about yourself.
- As you finish your skincare routine, look yourself in the eye and speak an affirmation, such as: “I am grateful for every part of me, including my ability to take care of my skin.”
- In the evening, take some deep breaths, notice how your skin feels, and listen for what your skin is grateful for.
MATCH INFO
Crawley Town 3 (Tsaroulla 50', Nadesan 53', Tunnicliffe 70')
Leeds United 0
