Erik ten Hag's Man Utd job is on the line - I know from my Saudi experience
It doesn't matter what Erik ten Hag says in public, in private, he knows his Manchester United job is on the line.
That is modern football. It’s a ruthless results-based business, and this whole concept of giving managers time is completely outdated now. I’ve heard people defending Ten Hag by saying Alex Ferguson only finished 11th in his third season at Old Trafford. It’s just not relevant. That wasn’t just a different age, it was a different bloody planet.
Manchester United is a business. A multi-billion business. I did an interview with Jurgen Klopp a few years ago, and we spoke about him being approached by United. He told me he’d had an ‘interview’ of sorts. But it left him cold, because they talked all about business, and not about football. That wasn’t for Klopp, he turned them down flat, but it is what United are all about.
Their turnover is getting on for a billion quid a year, and being a manager there is a bit like being the creative director of a massive multi-national corporation. You bring in the dollars or you’re history. It’s - and you’ll have to provide your own expletive here - ******* ruthless. Cut throat. You don’t take control at a huge multinational corporation and then get years to settle in and take your time to deliver success.
It’s not just Manchester United, it’s every professional football club the world over. And I should know - I’ve experienced it myself in what I’d say was, in some ways, much more extreme than even Ten Hag is experiencing. With my club in Saudi Arabia, Al-Qadsiah, we’ve had nothing but success this season. We didn’t lose a single game in topping the Saudi First Division league, and I won the manager of the month.
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The only game we lost in my entire time there was in the Saudi Kings Cup, where we were narrowly beaten by Al Taawoon who were not only a league above us, but were top of the Pro League at the time. And we missed a penalty.
On another day we’d have beaten the side who were top of the best league in Saudi. And yet apparently it still wasn’t enough. To be honest, I’m still a little hurt and baffled about the reasons why. I can only say that there seemed to be an agenda going on, and it wasn’t my agenda. They appointed a new manager within hours of announcing my departure, so I guess people can draw their own conclusions.
So I’m not going to extend much sympathy to Ten Hag, or start calling for patience and understanding. That’s not the world we are operating in any more. It’s a pretty simple world, really, and especially as far as Ten Hag is concerned - deliver success, or pay the price. Or in my case, even if you deliver success you could still pay the price!
Managers are sacked all the time - I know from experience (Getty Images)Do you agree with Robbie Fowler? Let us know in the comments below!
You can probably ask me, or Ten Hag, at this stage, why bother then? Why even try to get on the management merry-go-round if you’re going to be thrown off so viciously? Well, the answer is simple, it’s a helluva thing to be part of.
I’m disappointed and upset to have to leave my team behind at Al-Qadsiah. We had something special going on there. I’m 100 per cent certain we would have won promotion to the Pro League, and 100 per cent certain we’d be successful there. And crucially, so were the players. Has it bruised me? Not really. It was an incredible experience, and in just a few months, myself and the brilliant staff turned a club that was floundering, into one that can become a force in Saudi football.
Which is why I still believe in my talents, and still believe I can deliver that success somewhere else. Who knows, maybe even with another Saudi club. I’d love the chance to go back and show just what we were about to achieve.
I’m sure Ten Hag feels the same. I’m sure he still believes in himself, but I’m also sure that he knows, deep down, he hasn’t delivered, and all his moaning about not having the players to deliver the style of football he wants is not going to cut it.
I didn’t have all the players I wanted at Al Qadsiah, didn’t have certain types of player I wanted with pace, to deliver the fast, exciting football we wanted, but we still worked hard to ensure we were a really effective unit. And we were - enough that I feel confident we can repeat it if another job comes along out there.
And that’s what must happen at Manchester United now. Ten Hag has to stop moaning, stop making excuses, and work with what he’s got to deliver an effective brand of football... even if it can’t be quite the brand of football he’d prefer to play at the moment.
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Do what Klopp did at Liverpool. He inherited a terrible team in his first year, but still took Liverpool to two finals, and in his second year, was pragmatic enough to deliver Champions League football. He knew principles are one thing, but in football only results count. Ten Hag knows that too, and if he’s going to keep the Manchester United job even as far as Christmas, then it’s simple - start winning. No excuses.
Pochettino is also in danger
Mauricio Pochettino needs to start winning some games at Chelsea (Getty Images)If we’re talking about delivering, then the Tottenham-Chelsea game is a classic example of the pressure managers are under.
Ange Postecoglou came with a lot to prove at Spurs, because certain critics deemed his CV wasn't worthy of the job. Yet he’s done what he needed to - hit the ground running, by utilising the players he has. Making Son club captain was a smart move. He seems to have given the striker an extra dimension by giving him that responsibility, and he’s also brought the best out of him tactically.
I think Tottenham also respond to his brand of football. As a club they’ve always had a stylish philosophy, they’ve always wanted an attacking team, and he’s given the fans that. You look at Mauricio Pochettino and his start at Chelsea, and it’s essentially the opposite. He arrived with far less to prove, with a reputation as someone who could save the club.
And he’s been given millions to spend on players - which he clearly had some influence in signing, even if they are not all his picks. Yet it’s just not working, is it? From a distance, it’s hard to know why. There seems to be something rotten at the core of the club at the moment, and even though Pochettino has got rid of a lot of the poisonous players, there still seems to be that attitude.
He knows it’s results that matter. He was sacked soon after taking Spurs to their first ever Champions League final. He got the bullet at PSG despite winning trophies. It’s a tough business to be in. He knows too, that if he doesn’t turn it around soon, then he too will do well to survive until Christmas.
That’s the world of football these days. That era when Fergie took years to win his first trophy may as well be in black and white, it was so long ago.
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