Do Manchester United stick or twist with Erik ten Hag? Can they even afford to replace him? And is there an 'ideal' candidate out there in a summer of managerial change? Sky Sports News examines the situation...
Erik ten Hag has been subscribed to the analysis, the cutting criticisms, the endless loop of discussion over whether he will retain his job as United manager beyond the end of the season.
The only guarantee he has at present, given the unavailability of players meshed with the inconsistency of performances, is that the noise will continue.
He will like the soundbites to be accompanied by context; a concept too often missing in modern football discourse.
It would explain why every media appearance now feels like Ten Hag is making the case for himself, reminding the audience of the wider situation and planting an overly-positive lens in post-match talk.
This seems less of an attempt to soften detractors and more of a reframing of the narrative to United's decision-makers.
INEOS too have been subscribed to the analysis, the cutting criticisms, the endless loop of discussion. They, however, do have context, in the form of Sir Dave Brailsford's audit of the club's football operations.
It is why Sir Jim Ratcliffe emphasised the most significant factor INEOS can fix at the club is "the environment" because over the past decade United have had "a whole series of coaches, some of which were very good. And none of them were successful or survived for very long. And you can't blame all the coaches."
In his debut season, Ten Hag did well to deliver a trophy and Champions League football despite walking into a structural and cultural mess of great magnitude, which was worsened by him effectively running recruitment.
Now he is
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