Gary Neville believes Manchester United have been working behind the scenes on recruiting a new manager for a month, despite Erik ten Hag being sacked on Monday.
Ten Hag leaves the club having overseen the worst start in Premier League history, breaking his own miserable record from last season, which leaves the club in 14th and with a minus-three goal difference.
Ruud van Nistelrooy has been put in interim charge "whilst a permanent head coach is recruited", the club said in a statement, and Neville believes the 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Tottenham at the end of September would have sparked INEOS into action.
Ten Hag was last week asked about that 3-0 home loss to Spurs, in which Bruno Fernandes was sent off and then saw his red card rescinded, and surprised some with his response. "I deny that game, ignore that game against Spurs because we were downsized to 10 with a 1-0 losing position ... And then the red card was overturned,” he said.
I deny that game, ignore that game against Spurs because ... the red card was overturned
“So I totally ignore that game. That is not a fair assessment of the team to take this into consideration because we didn't have the chance to bounce back.”
"The fact they’re in 14th is just unacceptable," Neville told Sky Sports. "You can’t be 14th after nine games given the level of spend that has occurred without coming under significant pressure. I hoped it would end differently and I’m sure most Manchester United fans did, that the faith shown in the manager would be rewarded.
"I suspect that Tottenham game a few weeks ago would have prompted them to start looking for a new manager.
"You’re half hoping that the manager will turn it around and a miracle happens, and you win a few games. I think they thought after the next big defeat we have to act, and that came [on Sunday against West Ham]."
Neville notes that Ten Hag's sacking would have been a surprise to no one, with the beleaguered Dutchman spending millions on inadequate players and being unable to produce a style of play, while his decision to not play £50million summer signing Manuel Ugarte would have raised eyebrows in the board room.
"The lack of identity in style has been a mystery for the last two or three seasons. Let’s say the recruitment is poor - and it has been awful at times - but I do think there’s a group of players there.
"Yesterday, I was surprised to see Casemiro and Eriksen in midfield with Manuel Ugarte on the bench. If I was an owner, 'I’d think hang on a minute'.
The lack of identity in style has been a mystery for the last two or three seasons .. the recruitment has been awful at times
"It’s been a struggle to watch United play. I thought it was coming. At the Spurs game, I thought I’d seen all this before and knew how it would end. That was a game that shocked everybody, that was the game where everyone felt the season might start to kick on and recover from the difficult start. Sadly, it got worse after that.
"The challenges presented by the results, the challenges of the levels of performance have meant that the owners have been given a decision to make. I’m not sure anyone will be truly shocked [by the decision].”
Still, Ten Hag retained the backing of some fans who believed the Dutchman deserved more time and further financial backing to prove he was capable for the job.
Neville concluded: "There will be those that will say it should have happened at the end of last season. However, there were many of us United fans who wanted to keep Erik ten Hag on the basis that there was no standout replacement at the time. Give the chance to success with another transfer window and new structure underneath him along with some good signings."
