It's over.

Erik ten Hag is no longer the manager of Manchester United. After weeks of rampant speculation, boardroom meetings and back page headlines, the plug was pulled on Ten Hag's tumultuous two-and-a-half-year tenure at Old Trafford.

Following Sunday's controversial 2-1 defeat away to West Ham, the Red Devils are languishing 14th in the Premier League table with more losses than wins after nine games. United are also yet to win a single game in Europe this season after three attempts, form which ultimately made the Dutchman's position untenable.

With Ten Hag immediately replaced by fellow first-team coach and ex-Red Devils striker Ruud van Nistelrooy on as a caretaker basis, the United hierarchy are now searching for a new permanent manager who can bring the glory days back to Old Trafford.

We gave the Mirror Football team that same task and here's who they each believe should succeed Ten Hag.

Whoever comes in to replace Ten Hag faces a huge challenge and it will take a manager of authority, experience, charisma and substance to turn United around and take them back to the top. If United are looking to appoint the best and for the team to have a clear identity and playing philosophy, then Sporting Lisbon's Ruben Amorim is the leading candidate.

Amorim has transformed Sporting into a formidable side, one that plays with style and personality, which is why he is also being looked at by Manchester City as a potential successor to Pep Guardiola, should he leave at the end of this season, when his contract expires.

Get involved! Which manager do you think Manchester United should appoint? Tell us your pick the comments section.

Erik ten Hag left Manchester via a private job on Monday afternoon ( Image:

Eamonn and James Clarke) Appointing Amorim at the expense of City would represent a huge coup for United, with the 39-year-old one of the most sought-after young coaches in Europe, along with Xabi Alonso, whose Liverpool links are likely to rule him out of the Old Trafford job. Other candidates to succeed Ten Hag include ex-Barcelona boss Xavi, former England manager Gareth Southgate, Brentford head coach Thomas Frank and Graham Potter, whose last job was at Chelsea.

But if the new regime in charge at United want to atone for their ham-fisted handling of Ten Hag, they could do a lot worse than recruit Amorim, a progressive, forward-thinking coach who has already won two league titles with Sporting and who has shown he is ready to take the next step in his career at a bigger club.

Mike Walters - Ruben Amorim The tipping point was cruel. Ultimately, Ten Hag lost his job over a penalty which was a sick joke and a glut of easy chances spurned by his players at West Ham.

But there had already been so many tipping points at Old Trafford on Ten Hag's watch that Ben Shephard should be the next United manager. No, It wasn't Ten Hag's fault that United couldn't hit a barn door at the Taxpayers Stadium when the team he picked was markedly superior for three-quarters of the contest.

And, no, it wasn't his fault that VAR jobsworth Michael Oliver poked his nose into a scuffle where Matthijs De Ligt did NOTHING wrong and the Hammers somehow got a penalty out of it. Having said that, Manchester United can't be 14th in the Premier League, 12 points off the pace, and 21st out of 36 in the Europa League, with only the likes of Smorgasbord Rovers and Herdy Gerdy Rangers below them, entirely through bad luck.

if Sir Jim and his inner sanctum base their choice purely on football merits, it needs to be someone who will excite the fans - someone like Sporting Lisbon's Ruben Amorim. And if United are lucky, Amorim might even bring his prolific Swedish striker Victor Gyokeres (14 goals in 12 games this season) with him.

Ruben Amorim has enjoyed success with Sporting Lisbon ( Image:

What is needed is a cultural reset at a famous old club which has lost touch with its identity - like the England team before Gareth Southgate. The former Three Lions boss would bring sense and stability to the job - and emphasise the honour it is to play for the great club - even if his brand of football is not exactly scintillating.

Southgate has said he wants to take a sabbatical from football for a year but he is never going to get the opportunity to manage a bigger institution than Manchester United. The Old Trafford club should give him the hard sell and convince him he is the man for the job.

Gareth Southgate has regularly been linked with the Manchester United job ( Image:

Thomas Frank? He may have worked wonders at Brentford, but has never finished above ninth in the Premier League. Ruben Amorim is probably the outstanding choice, but why would any aspiring manager want this job? Until INEOS can prove they are semi-capable behind the scenes, any manager worth their salt should bid their time for a better gig.

It's not the best option, but the timing of Ten Hag's sacking means that Van Nistelrooy now has a much friendlier list of fixtures to get started with. I wouldn't be surprised if he wins the next four, with a bit of panache to go with the results. People will probably get over excited and despite them insisting work is being done on a permanent successor, he will be given the job in about March.

Rinse and repeat.

Tom Victor - Ruud van Nistelrooy When Ruud van Nistelrooy joined Manchester United's coaching staff over the summer, I can't have been the only one who saw it as an insurance policy in case things didn't work out with Erik ten Hag. Van Nistelrooy has the combination of that nebulous concept of United DNA and experience of winning silverware.

You might argue it's just a domestic cup, but Mr Ten Hag has repeatedly assured us those are significant trophies. I'm not here to deliver a revisionist history of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's United tenure - when it got bad towards the end, it got really bad - but the high points provided evidence for those banging the drum for someone with a connection to the club.

Things have changed in the three years since, not least with the arrival of INEOS, but Van Nistelrooy at least knows the scale of what's required of a United manager. The upcoming fixtures ought to give the Dutchman something resembling an audition for the gig. There are plenty of other factors to consider, of course, but it might just be the case that the best man for the job is already at the club.

Ruud van Nistelrooy has been given the caretaker job at Manchester United ( Image:

He was retained by both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick. But it was in his first role as the main man where McKenna has excelled. Having taken the reins with Ipswich just under three years ago, McKenna has mastermind back-to-back promotions to lead the Tractor Boys into the Premier League.

While he signed a new long-term deal at Portman Road in the summer, the bright lights of Old Trafford would surely be tempting. And in exchange, the Red Devils would be getting one of the most exciting young coaches in England who simply knows how to build a winning team.

Kieran McKenna took the Ipswich Town job after leaving Manchester United in 2021 ( Image:

Manchester United have a culture problem. England had a culture problem. Gareth Southgate did what many considered to be the impossible job and brought harmony, pride and success - barring a trophy, obviously - back to the national team.

Was he a big name? No. Did he have a track record of managing superstars? No. But what Southgate did possess was a personal touch and the kind of modern-day leadership skills which institutions like the FA and United demand.

Dan Ashworth and Sir Dave Brailsford both have an established relationship with Southgate, so they'll know exactly the type of character they'll be dealing with and how to work together - unlike most candidates on United's shortlist. Southgate may still want to spend another year in the shadows before returning to coaching but I think he can lead United out of the dark.

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