Sir Jim Ratcliffe gives Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag his strongest backing yet

Erik ten Hag has received his strongest backing yet from Sir Jim Ratcliffe after the Manchester United minority owner labelled the Dutchman "a good coach".

Ineos approached replacements for Ten Hag before the FA Cup final and in the two weeks after the victory against Manchester City, before deciding to keep faith with the 54-year-old. Ten Hag oversaw a desperately disappointing season last term, finishing eighth in the Premier League and bottom of their Champions League group, but victory against City in the cup final helped convince Ineos to grant him a third season.

That only came after a thorough end-of-season review that also saw them sound out other bosses, including Thomas Tuchel. Ten Hag is now expected to agree a new contract at Old Trafford.

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Speaking at The Times CEO Summit, Ratcliffe has given his most vocal backing yet to Ten Hag, having previously kept his counsel when asked about the club's manager. Ratcliffe, who owns 27.7% of United, refused to comment on Ten Hag after his £1.25bn investment into the club was confirmed in February.

He then released a congratulatory statement after the cup final that didn't mention Ten Hag by name and United didn't release any public comments to reiterate their backing for the manager when making the decision to keep him last week. Ratcliffe did an interview with Bloomberg when he said the head coach wasn't the issue at Old Trafford, but speaking at the summit he offered Ten Hag his first note of public praise in his four months as the key decision-maker at the club. Ratcliffe said the