Manchester United's minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe insists the environment for managers at Old Trafford has not lent itself to being successful as Erik ten Hag's future is questioned

Sir Jim Ratcliffe stopped short of saying whether he supports Erik ten Hag but maintained his Manchester United focus is on creating a "driven environment".

The British billionaire purchased a minority stake in the Red Devils earlier this season and has set about making the necessary changes. All of those have come off the pitch with key individuals arriving this summer, but on the pitch the club face the prospect of their worst ever finish in the Premier League era.

That has seen the pressure ramp up on Ten Hag, who is only into his second year at Old Trafford. He's failed to build on his first season with the team seemingly going backwards. As a result the Dutchman's position is under threat but Ratcliffe insisted he doesn't yet have the environment to be successful.

He told Bloomberg: "This is not about the manager, if you look at Manchester United in the last 11 years, it's not doing terribly, none of the managers have done terribly well. There's been some really good coaches that have come to Manchester United so you know the conclusion from that has to be that the environment for the coach has not been a successful one because none of them have been successful.

United have failed to mount a Premier League charge since the days of Sir Alex Ferguson and last season's Carabao Cup success marked the end of six years without silverware. Omar Berrada will come in as the club's chief executive, leaving Manchester City to take up the role.

Jason Wilcox has come on board from Southampton as the technical director and the highly-rated Dan Ashworth is looking to join from Newcastle, with that battle going to arbitration after the Magpies demanded a huge compensation package.

Erik ten Hag faces an uncertain future in Manchester ( Image:

"And we need the people with the right skill sets in the right boxes. So it's a bit of a combination."

Ten Hag has remained defiant when quizzed on his future and is adamant he is the man to take the team forward. He's often pointed to the raft of injuries suffered by his side as a justification for their underwhelming season with wholesale changes expected to the squad this summer.

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