Manchester United should not be expected to win trophies under Erik ten Hag immediately, says Gary Neville, warning it is a long job for the Dutchman with a mentally shot squad at Old Trafford.
The Ajax boss will take the reins from interim manager Ralf Rangnick at the end of the season, with the Red Devils arguably facing their lowest point in the post-Alex Ferguson era.
Questions over whether a squad low on confidence can challenge for Champions League football remains in the air, and several key players look destined for the door.
Hopes are high that Ten Hag can facilitate a fast turnaround - but speaking after his appointment, former defender Neville has warned there will be no quick fix at the Theatre of Dreams.
"What we're seeing at this current moment is unacceptable," Neville told Sky Sports News. "Ten Hag has got a big job to get the club back up to those minimum standards.
"They need to achieve [...] attitude, work ethic, belief, confidence and then hopefully you start to think about winning trophies.
"But honestly, I wouldn't be putting too much pressure on Ten Hag in the first one or two years to win a trophy at the club. It would be great if he did and he'd be overachieving, in my opinion.
"It will be: get into the top four, re-establish Man Utd in the Champions League, attract the players into the club who can play in the way he wants to play, and then get a system of belief.
"It took Jurgen Klopp four or five years to win a Premier League title. I wouldn't be putting pressure on Ten Hag to win a Premier League title. They're a million miles away from that.
"At the end of last season, I thought they were getting closer. But it's all collapsed and fallen to pieces. I don't know why that's happened. Ten Hag gets to pick up the pieces."
It has been a dramatic fall from grace for United, after their much-vaunted rebuild under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looked on the cusp of paying dividends last term.
But since their Europa League final defeat at the end of the 2021-22 campaign, they have delivered few statement performances, and Neville believes the losing feeling will be hard to shake.
"The players have completely lost their confidence and belief," he added. "They don't want to play football for Manchester United at this moment in time.
"That's not they don't want to play football for the club - they don't want to play football. They want the season to finish. You can see it in their eyes. They just want these games over.
"But the problem is there is no hiding place at this club. All the eyes are still going to be on them and they're going to have to try to turn up. They've got to find something from somewhere.
"I want to be careful in saying there's long-lasting damage but the mental impact of what's happening, that's going to have [a] long-lasting impact on some of those lads."
Ten Hag will succeed Rangnick, with the German expected to remain at the club on a consultancy basis - and Neville feels that it will be the latter who helps the Dutchman dictate transfer policy.
"Recruitment is the most important job in a football club," he said. "If you get the players wrong, you're struggling.
"Rangnick has had four or five months to assess that dressing room. I'm pretty certain they'll be having pretty direct conversations about who he needs to get rid of.
"It's on the tip of Rangnick's tongue in every single interview he does and you feel like he's going to go rogue at some point and start calling players out.
"He's doing it in groups, but there's no doubt Rangnick will be passing on that very specific information about who Ten Hag needs to get rid of - and I'm sure Ten Hag will listen and buy into that."
Sessegnon rejoins boyhood club Fulham after Tottenham departure
Ryan Sessegnon has resigned for Fulham on a free transfer, five years after leaving the club.
The 24-year-old signed a two-year contract with the Cottagers with the option to extend for a further year following his departure from Tottenham last month.
In his first spell at the club, Sessegnon worked his way through the academy over 11 years, scoring 25 goals in 120 first-team appearances.
He then moved to Spurs in a £25million deal in 2019, though struggled to nail down a place in North London, making just 57 appearances in all competitions, and scoring three goals.
"It's amazing to be back. Emotional, as well," he told FFCtv. "It's where it started for me, where everything began, and it's amazing to be back.
"It will always be home for me. I think it had the feeling that it was meant to be, coming back here, so I'm delighted to get it done."
Sessegnon is Fulham's first signing of the transfer window, though they have seen plenty of first-team departures already, with Joao Palhinha, Tosin Adarabioyo and Bobby De Cordova-Reid all leaving the club.
Eriksen in 'no rush' to decide Man Utd future
Christian Eriksen says he is in "no rush" to decide his future despite going into the final year of his contract at Manchester United.
Eriksen joined the Red Devils in 2022, making 28 appearances in the Premier League in his first season, though an injury in January 2023 put a halt to his impressive start to life at Old Trafford.
Following Kobbie Mainoo's breakout season last year, Eriksen dropped down the pecking order at United as he made just 12 starts in his 22 league appearances, scoring just once and assisting two goals.
Some reports suggest Eriksen could be heading out on loan to former club Ajax for the final year of his contract, but he insisted he is satisfied in Manchester.
"I am really happy at United," he said. "I have had two very good years and am going into my third.
"It is a special club and a special place. Also, my family is settled in Manchester, so I am in no rush.
"Obviously, I want to play as much as possible and do everything I can. But that is nothing to do with the club - it is up to you and the manager.
"But in terms of how I feel, I feel very good at United."
Man Utd transformation will not occur 'overnight', says Maguire
Harry Maguire has warned Manchester United supporters their fortunes may not change "overnight" ahead of the Red Devils' first season under the Jim Ratcliffe regime.
INEOS founder Ratcliffe assumed control of football operations when he bought a 25% stake in the club, with his part-takeover being formally ratified earlier this year.
United have since gone about constructing a new football hierarchy, appointing Dan Ashworth as sporting director and Omar Berrada as chief executive.
They were widely expected to part ways with manager Erik ten Hag after finishing eighth in the Premier League last term, but the Dutchman was instead handed a new contract after guiding them to an FA Cup final victory over Manchester City.
United have spent an estimated £88million to bring in striker Joshua Zirkzee and centre-back Leny Yoro ahead of Ten Hag's third season in charge, but Maguire has warned patience will be required as they bid to return to title contention.
"I don't think we will go from finishing eighth in the league to winning all the trophies overnight," Maguire told BBC Sport.
"But I do think we are moving in the right direction now and the decisions that have been made at the top will help this club get back to where it should be."
Yoro's arrival has raised questions about Maguire's future, with Lisandro Martinez also hoping to play a heightened role after an injury-hit 2023-24 campaign.
Maguire was widely expected to leave Old Trafford last year but opted to fight for his place and was ultimately rewarded with regular gametime.
With Martinez, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof all enduring disjointed seasons, Maguire managed more Premier League starts (18) and minutes (1,650) than any other United centre-back.
The Red Devils only kept four Premier League clean sheets when Maguire was involved, however, with their 58 goals conceded their most in any league campaign since 1978-79 (63).
He believes he proved his worth, saying: "There was a lot of uncertainty over my future last year but I sat down with the manager, he told me where I was at, said he believed in me and I would get chances.
"I proved last season when I got the chances I took them really well."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
