Manchester United's players have been sent a warning by one of Erik ten Hag's former players about his no-nonsense approach to management.
Last month Ten Hag was announced as the successor to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Interim boss Ralf Rangnick will step aside to undertake a consultancy role at the end of the season with the 52-year-old Dutchman joining on a deal until 2025.
Much has been said about Ten Hag's style of football and his philosophy regarding his role as manager. However, according to Esbjerg fB defender Kevin Conboy, who was managed by Ten Hag at Utrecht, the Reds' players will not be able to get away with any shenanigans.
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Speaking to the Daily Star, Conboy said: "I’m not going to mention the name, but we had a player who lived 30 or 40 minutes away from the training ground. He was late one day, and Erik said, 'this is never going to happen again.'
"Then he came in late one morning one more time, maybe five minutes. Maybe in Dutch terms, compared to the Premier League, this is nothing.
"But he received a €1,000 fine, or thereabouts. The third time, he had to go to the director’s office and sign a contract that said if he was ever late again, 'you can just terminate my contract.'
"He gives a lot, but he demands a lot. You don’t step outside."
Despite his firm approach to player relations, Conboy insisted that Ten Hag was a likeable manager to work under. "He managed to get the best out of players that were maybe pigeon-holed as trouble," he added.
"He is very good at getting the best out of the players, really. He would do anything to protect the team," Conboy continued.
"At the time [at Utrecht], maybe we had 25 players and the staff. And he said, 'let’s say we have a balloon, everyone on the outside is trying to poke it and say ‘this is not good enough’ or find holes.'
" He always said ‘we need to stay together as a group’ and that for the individual player to shine, the team needs to function. It’s not about 11 players or 15; it’s about everyone. We had to make sure that nobody on the inside was causing any trouble."
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