He has detailed his grand plan for a new stadium and said he wants to knock Manchester City off their perch. He met fans groups in person and is appointing respected industry figures to key jobs. The goodwill allowed him to make unpopular decisions within the club, including axing the traditional staff trips to cup finals, and delivering some harsh words to employees without the hysteria that would have accompanied the same moves if they had been made by the Glazer family.
As one fan representative observed in private a couple of months ago, 'this is the easy bit, it's when he has to do something that the real judgement will come'. United go into the FA Cup final with City knowing defeat will mean no European football next season for only the second time since 1981-82.
Before that, the famous Ta-ra Fergie' banner during a home defeat by Crystal Palace in December that told the Scot it was time to go. Wind forward 25 years and now it is Ratcliffe, backed by Ineos' United board appointments Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc, plus technical director Jason Wilcox, who must decide Ten Hag's future.
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