June 5th, 2024, Christien Pheby
In normal circumstances, an FA Cup win might secure a football manager a pay rise and a contract extension – but Manchester United’s board may have different plans for Erik Ten Hag. Speculation around the former Ajax chief's future has only grown in the days since the club’s victory at Wembley, with some reports indicating that he could face the sack soon.
But a new YouGov poll of Manchester United fans reveals that three in five (59%) would see the Dutchman stay on as manager, and just a quarter (24%) want him to leave the club.
This doesn’t mean the club’s fans are happy with how the 2023-2024 football season - where the club finished 8th in the Premier League - played out. In fact, seven in ten (70%) describe themselves as dissatisfied with how the Red Devils performed over the last campaign. But they aren’t necessarily most likely to blame Ten Hag for this.
Among those who are unhappy with United’s recent performance, 61% say the Glazers deserve a great deal of blame, with 25% saying they deserve a fair amount.
Next, the players. Some 36% of United fans believe they should shoulder a lot of responsibility for an unsatisfying season, and 56% saying they should take a fair share of it.
Just 11% say Ten Hag deserves a great deal of blame for United’s performance last season – although 57% say he should take some of the blame.
The least amount of blame is allocated to Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Just 13% think he should take either a great deal or a fair amount of responsibility for United’s performance in the 2023-2024 season. On that subject, we also polled supporters about what his top priority should be now that he is in charge of the club’s football operations.
A quarter (26%) say he should focus on selling unwanted players, while a fifth say he should focus on signing new players (21%) and the same proportion say he should emphasise developing youth (21%). Only 11% think the focus should be on retaining key members of the squad, while 6% would see further development of Old Trafford.
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YouGov polled 674 Manchester United fans online on 31 May – 1 June. The survey was carried out through YouGov Surveys: Self-serve. Data is weighted by age, gender, education level, region, and social grade. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Self-serve.