Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS might be about to make their first Manchester United mistake

The managerial merry-go-round has begun ahead of the summer transfer window.

Mauricio Pochettino was sacked by Chelsea on Tuesday night, despite ending the season with a flourish, and he's been inevitably linked with replacing Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.

Manchester United had a choice between Pochettino and Ten Hag in 2022 and they made the right appointment. Ten Hag enjoyed a fantastic first year in Manchester, finishing third and winning the Carabao Cup, but the wheels have spectacularly fallen off in his second season.

That doesn't mean it was the wrong decision to appoint Ten Hag. The Dutchman has done a lot of good but the feeling is a change is necessary after a stark regression this season.

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Admirably, United fans have refused to turn on Ten Hag but the majority accept this season hasn't been good enough and winning the FA Cup is unlikely to safeguard his future.

Making such an important decision based on a single match, even an FA Cup final, would be foolish and Ten Hag will be rightly judged on the season as a whole.

United were knocked out of the Carabao Cup and Europe before Christmas, some performances have been awful and they have finished eighth in the Premier League.

Although the list of potential replacements for Ten Hag hasn't exactly inspired supporters, there is clearly a manager out there who could have done better this season.

Pochettino has surged to the front of the bookies' market for the next United manager since his departure from Chelsea but his appointment wouldn't be a popular choice.

There is no perfect candidate and Pochettino has come close to