Erik ten Hag needs to impress his new bosses as Ratcliffe arrive at Old Trafford

Erik ten Hag looked in good spirits as he celebrated New Year's Eve with a family meal - but the Manchester United manager wouldn't have been disappointed to see the back of 2023.

While the first-half of the year was a success, with a Carabao Cup triumph and a third-place Premier League finish, the past few months have undone all United's progress under the Dutch coach.

United have already lost nine Premier League games this season and have crashed out of both the Champions League and the Carabao Cup.

They were beaten 21 times in the calendar year, making it the fourth-worst in the club's 146 years of existence.

Every defeat deepens the gloom at Old Trafford and even United's wins this season have been, on the whole, unconvincing.

So Ten Hag enters 2024 under serious scrutiny, with the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe after his £1.3billion investment only deepening the uncertainty over his future at the club.

January may be light on fixtures but it shaping up to be a pivotal month for Ten Hag and could well determine whether he survives or becomes the latest manager on United's scrapheap.

The first discussions with Ineos

Ratcliffe's buy-in to United, which sees him take control of football operations, has certainly changed the dynamic.

Sir Dave Brailsford, the Ineos sporting director, has attended United's last two matches. He saw a bit of fighting spirit when they came back from two-down to beat Aston Villa 3-2 on Boxing Day.

But there was something symbolic about Brailsford sitting next to Sir Alex Ferguson as United produced a dismal performance in losing 2-1 at Nottingham Forest on Saturday night.

Ferguson's United sides made light work of such opponents but the mighty have fallen.

Brailsford toured United's Carrington training