Manchester United’s board of directors will meet on Thursday following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s offer to buy a 25 per cent stake in the club. In return for that investment, Ratcliffe wants control over and responsibility for sporting decisions at Old Trafford. Essentially, he wants to reshape the football part of this football club in the INEOS image.
That would typically bring the manager’s position into question, as a potted history of recent Premier League takeovers shows.
Thomas Tuchel lasted less than 100 days of the Boehly-Clearlake era at Chelsea. Steve Bruce was granted the 1,000th game of his managerial career before being ushered away by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund upon their takeover of Newcastle United.
Even the £120million ($146m) acquisition of Bournemouth last year resulted in one of the more controversial managerial sackings of recent times only a few months later, when Gary O’Neil lost his job despite retaining Premier League status.
Erik ten Hag’s position is not under any short-term threat, though, whatever the outcome of Thursday’s board meeting.
Despite a difficult start to the new campaign in which United have lost six out of their 11 games in all…
