Erik ten Hag's first act as Manchester United manager must also be his last

Erik ten Hag breezed into the Old Trafford press room with his head held high and began introducing himself to the journalists in attendance. "Hi, I'm Erik", he said as he shook hands with the front row of the press auditorium.

This was an assured introduction from Ten Hag, who had made his way up into the South Stand after posing for pictures pitchside in what was, remarkably, his first visit to Old Trafford.

But the hellos are the easy part for Manchester United managers. The challenge for Ten Hag is to avoid the fate that has befallen the four men to come before him, who after bright and breezy beginnings played out their final act trying to hide from cameramen at Carrington as they were whisked away for the final time, a binbag of belongings tucked away in the boot and a P45 in hand.

READ MORE: Ten Hag provides a surprise in first United press conference

Ten Hag made the point several times in his introductory press conference that he had canvassed the views of plenty of people connected to United about the state of the club, including his countryman Louis van Gaal.

He is one of the fallen four since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement and either publicly or privately David Moyes, Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would all send the warning signals to Ten Hag.

The lure of this club is hard to resist, however. It seems incredible that Ten Hag could reach the age of 52 and spend a career in the game without ever visiting Old Trafford, but after his first experience of the place he will know the adulation that awaits the man who finally gets it right here.

Will that be Ten Hag? United certainly think so. In 20 minutes before the media, he struck some optimistic notes, never more so than when predicting Pep