Gary Lineker and Micah Richards were left shocked by Erik ten Hag’s admission on Dutch television.
The Manchester United manager appeared on NOS in what was his first public appearance since it was confirmed he would continue in the hot seat at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag spoke about a range of topics from his holiday being disrupted by United’s end-of-season review, Gareth Southgate’s tactics at Euro 2024 and how he is fully aware of meetings that took place with former Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel.
“The club management came to me while I was on holiday in Ibiza,” Ten Hag said, as quoted by BBC Sport.
“They suddenly showed up on my doorstep and told me they wanted to continue with me.
“Manchester United have told me that they spoke with Tuchel, but they eventually came to the conclusion that they already have the best manager.
“Ineos took their time, they are new in football, it’s normal to reflect on the season.
“It’s no secret that they talked with multiple candidates.”
BBC duo Lineker and Richards were baffled by the news, even though they are aware of links to other managerial candidates.
For example, it has been well-documented that Sir Jim Ratcliffe met with Tuchel in Monaco.
“Erik ten Hag, who has been working on Dutch TV, has admitted United told him they spoke to Thomas Tuchel,” Lineker told The Rest is Football podcast.
“It’s strange behaviour from the club and odd that he would admit that. It’s poor from the club. It’s extraordinary. I’ve never known anything like this.
“Who knows what will happen tehre because he also said they need to discuss a new contract. In his defence, and he deserves to be defended, he’s won two trophies at the club.”
It wasn’t long ago that Lineker joined forces with Alan Shearer taking aim at Ten Hag. Remember their FA Cup final coverage of United’s 2-1 win over Man City?
Former Man City defender, Richards, who has never managed a football team said: “He’s been disrespected, how bad is that?
“We were talking about Jim Ratcliffe coming in and changing things, hiring proper football people, and then you hear stories like this. It’s ridiculous.
“How can you do that? If I was the manager I would say no problem, this isn’t for me. I don’t think it’s fair what’s happening.”
Ineos spent over £1b on a minority percentage of the club, yet Richards doesn’t see why they would consider changes when they’ve made it clear that everything on the football side would be assessed.
Hopefully, Ten Hag can turn things around on the pitch next season.
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These two muppets are working very hard at making something out of absolutely nothing.
‘Strange’, ‘extraordinary’, even ‘ridiculous’. Seriously?
What’s the story again? Oh yeah, INEOS being honest and open with their Manager, and Manager saying ‘yes, I knew’.
United speaking to other Managers was all over the Media, far more disturbing would have been for INEOS to deny it. What would that have done for their relationship with ETH?
To do that would have indeed been ‘strange, extraordinary, ridiculous’.