Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt were thinking the same thing about Manchester United’s handling of one manager in the aftermath of Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.
Ruben Amorim is currently the sixth permanent manager at Manchester United after the 40-year-old Portuguese coach replaced Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford in 2024.
Both Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt were two of United’s ‘Class of ‘92’ breakout stars under former manager Sir Alex Ferguson after emerging from the youth academy.
Butt would leave Old Trafford in 2004 and he signed for Newcastle, while Scholes spent his entire professional club playing career under United legend Ferguson.
Scholes was part of United’s last Premier League title-winning team before he retired for the second time in 2013, with Ferguson also marking his Old Trafford departure.
United have had several permanent managers in the post-Ferguson era, including Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, David Moyes, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag.
Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt both asked a telling Man Utd question about Erik ten Hag
Erik ten Hag’s reign as Manchester United manager came to an end in the 2024-25 Premier League season after he was axed from the Red Devils in October 2024.
United endured a poor start to the campaign under the 55-year-old Dutchman and Ten Hag’s position had become untenable under the Ineos regime at Old Trafford.
Ruud van Nistelrooy, who was one of Ten Hag’s assistant managers at United, was temporarily installed as interim head coach ahead of Ruben Amorim’s appointment.
Speaking on ‘The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast,’ Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt were asked if United should have axed Ten Hag long before the club did.
“Well, they sacked him a couple of months after, so it probably should have done, yeah,” Scholes responded.
United legend Butt then added: “Looking back, yeah.”
Erik ten Hag’s fall as Man Utd manager showed the rough start of Ineos and Sir Jim Ratcliffe at Old Trafford
Ten Hag was in the midst of a disappointing second season at Old Trafford when Ineos chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe secured his minority stake and became United co-owner.
The former Ajax manager’s future was cast in uncertainty, with the Red Devils managing to only finish eighth in the Premier League table in the 2023-24 season.
However, Ten Hag had a redeeming moment with the aforementioned campaign after United defeated Manchester City 2-1 in the FA Cup final at Wembley in 2024.
Ineos had launched an end-of-season review after the FA Cup win and United had been linked with the likes of Thomas Tuchel as a potential replacement for Ten Hag.
However, Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s regime did not land the target that they wanted and Ineos instead handed Ten Hag a contract extension at United in July 2024.
Fast-forward from July to October in 2024 and the former United manager’s reign came to its demise after Ten Hag was finally axed from the Red Devils.
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