Alex Ferguson told to sort out Man Utd stars 'taking the p***' out of Erik ten Hag
Manchester United have been urged to consider bringing Sir Alex Ferguson back into the fold as their underperforming squad continue to fall short under Erik ten Hag
by Mike Walters · The MirrorPaul Gascoigne has accused Manchester United flops of “taking the p***” out of Erik ten Hag, scowling: “Give the man a bit of respect.”
And the England legend says United should consider putting Sir Alex Ferguson back in charge to motivate an under-performing squad. Ten Hag survived a seven-hour board meeting last week after United’s worst start to a season in the Premier League era.
The manager’s future was discussed with the Red Devils a lowly 14th in the table and with just one win in their last 10 games in Europe. But Gazza, who famously snubbed United for Tottenham in 1988, expressed sympathy with Ten Hag, who was backed with a new contract in the summer after winning the FA Cup.
Speaking to SportsCasting UK, Gascoigne said: “I feel sorry for him a bit. I'd love [Sir Alex] Ferguson to take over for one season and just see what he could do with those players because I think some of them take the p*** out of him (Ten Hag).
“You've got to give the man a bit of respect and it's such a massive club. I don’t think some of the players realise who they are playing for.”
Gazza is especially concerned about Marcus Rashford ’s form - and says a move abroad might “shake him up.” He said: “I love Rashford, I think he's an unbelievable player, but he just doesn’t seem to care. Even when he scores, he doesn't seem happy about it, so there's something going on there.
"If that's the case just move on. He doesn’t seem happy playing in England anyway and some good clubs will come in for him. Go to Italy, that'll shake him up. It shook me up a bit.”
Gascoigne’s move to Serie A from Spurs in 1992 rejuvenated his career after a year out following cruciate ligament surgery. He recalled: “I remember when I signed for Lazio, it was funny. I said to my Dad, ‘We’ll go and watch them (train) for a week first.’
“I watched the warm up and I went, ‘Wow, that’s some training session.’ And the coach went, ‘That’s a warm up.’ I started crying a bit. I went, ‘Dad, there’s no way I can do that. F***ing no way. Like 20 odd laps, just on a warm up, and then half an hour doing different stretches.’
“My Dad went, ‘Well, you better f***ing get used to it because I’ve found a villa already and I’m moving in there.’ That’ll shake him (Rashford) up a bit, going abroad.”
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