“Big place, this,” Sir Alex Ferguson would say as he gazed around Old Trafford in the early days, a sense of awe in those gruff tones. Big job, too. When Ferguson took over from Ron Atkinson as the Manchester United manager in November 1986, the club were fourth from bottom of the old First Division and the culture was all wrong, especially in the playing squad, where there was too much boozing and not enough achieving.
There will doubtless be a moment when the scale of it all hits Erik ten Hag, who was confirmed on Thursday as United’s next permanent manager; he will begin work over the summer, once he has finished the season at Ajax. Because not since Ferguson has an incoming manager found the club at such a low ebb.
