Erik ten Hag should do what Louis van Gaal did with Manchester United outgoings

For those who have outstayed their welcome at football clubs, the writing is not usually on the wall but on a banner.

Manchester United's matchgoers pride themselves on not outright scapegoating players. You could also count on two hands how many former players have been booed at Old Trafford in the last 30 years and only the owners warrant ink daubed onto a bedsheet.

The most brazen act of mutiny was to don a Jose Mourinho scarf while Louis van Gaal was still the manager. And on the night a handful of fans donned such scarves for the goalless draw with Chelsea in December 2015, a vocal contingent in the second tier of the Stretford End chanted, "F--k off Mourinho".

United supporters are more emotionally invested in backing than sacking. The game was well and truly up for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when he was specifically booed as he approached the away end at Vicarage Road. It should never have got to that.

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Van Gaal copped it at Old Trafford once, after a goalless half at the Scoreboard End against Southampton. United lost 1-0 and it was a month on from that December of discontent that Van Gaal somehow survived.

His best performance that month was his "wine and mince pies" press conference that he calmly walked out of. Van Gaal was on borrowed time and it was a matter of time until Mourinho was appointed. Five months, to be exact.

The mood towards Van Gaal was markedly different from the denouement of his first season. United only won one of their last six games but had secured Champions League qualification and Van Gaal brought the house down at the end-of-season awards do.

David Moyes was dithering whereas Van Gaal was decisive. "I've talked with every